By Britt Nelson

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

Voters in Wisconsin go to the primary polls Tuesday and it’s looking like another win for Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who, in the past few days, has opened up a 5-point lead over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — 48 percent to 43 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.

Every day, Sanders is keeping up the pressure on Clinton, and she is trying to avoid any reference to Sanders. At 74 years of age his stamina and sincerity are winning over voters far beyond Wisconsin. The latest flap between the two came Friday when a reporter for Greenpeace, a worldwide environmental group, confronted Clinton about Sanders’ assertions that her campaign has accepted large contributions from big oil interests, which she angrily and nastily denied while accusing the Sanders camp of lying about her, showing a side of herself that is disliked by voters across the board.

But Sanders quickly and in detail outlined numerous contributions — naming names and dollar amounts –donated to Clinton by big oil and demanding an apology from her which he did not get.

In a Washington Post story fact-checking the Sanders/Clinton big oil controversy, it is clear that in the murky waters of today’s legal campaign financing laws it’s hard to separate fact from fiction and exaggeration.

What matters is thnat Sanders was mostly right and Clinton understated the contributions to her political action committees — that’s what matters. Sanders also received contributions from big oil, but Clinton’s amounts were far higher than Sanders. But in the eyes of voters — it was Sanders who came out on top in this round of controversies, accusations and finder pointing.

It’s also clear that PACs, political action committees formed on behalf of Democratic or Republican candidates, should be outlawed. PACs are created to accept donations from corporations that candidate campaigns are forbidden by law to accept. They are mostly responsible for producing negative mass media political campaign ads on TV, radio, social media and in newspapers attacking opposition candidates.

For Republicans coming into the Wisconsin primary, things are not much better: Front-runner New York billionaire Donald Trump stepped deeply into the decades-old abortion controversy with off-the-wall comments that literally had everybody shaking their heads. After two days of being battered by his own comments, implying that abortion should be illegal and mothers seeking abortions should be punished, Trump waved a white flag and said, “At this moment the laws are set. And I think we have to leave it that way.”

In Real Clear Politics’ average of six primary polls in Wisconsin, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is leading Trump 36.5 percent to 32.7 percent — however Trump leads in one poll and trails Cruz by only 1 or 2 points in others. So it could go to Cruz or Trump on Tuesday, but not to Ohio Gov. John Kasich who trails both Cruz and Trump at 21 percent.

Cruz, Trump and Kasich are campaigning heavily in Wisconsin right up to primary day because 42 Republican delegates are at stake. For front-runner Trump each delegate is valuable as he moves closer to the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican presidential nomination in July.

Sanders is counting on a victory in Wisconsin to keep his campaign alive, but with only 86 delegates to win and Clinton’s sizable delegate lead she is focusing her efforts in her home state of New York – in yet another display of arrogance that Wisconsin voters are not worth much of her time and money. She has campaigned in Wisconsin, but not like Sanders’ relentless display of wanting the public’s vote.

Looking down the road, all the candidates for president are eyeing the delegate-rich New York Primary April 19 in which only registered Republicans and Democrats can vote. Registered Independent voters cannot vote. In this primary, 95 Republican delegates and 291 Democratic delegates are up for assignment.

Real Clear Politics’ averaged New York Republican Primary polls show Trump way ahead of Kasich 54 percent to 16.8 percent, with Cruz in third place at 15.6 percent.

If the RCP New York Democratic polls are accurate, Clinton will win big over Sanders 60 percent to 33 percent. But a lot can happen in two weeks in this volatile campaign environment.

After Wisconsin, Sanders will move on to New York where he is demanding another debate with Clinton, but Clinton says Sanders’ ”tone” must change before she will debate him there. Why should Clinton debate Sanders when she leads in delegates and is ahead in the polls? Why risk a misstep when you are ahead?

Of course, Clinton and Sanders should debate again before April 19. Clinton’s refusal to debate Sanders is making her look arrogant and selfish. And why is the question to debate Sanders up to Clinton anyway? Shouldn’t the Democratic National Committee be setting these debates? Shouldn’t this New York debate have been settled months ago? Apparently, the DNC is in Clinton’s pocket. Sanders’ success, in the past month with winning several primaries and caucuses in a row, is causing much frustration for the Clinton campaign, her PACs and the DNC.

Sanders is the fly in the ointment. Trump is the hovering bee.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.