Quite a year and a half.

 Sometimes hard work doesn't pay off--or does it?

Today, two days after the election polls have closed, it is still not clear who has been elected president of the United (?) States.  Biden is edging closer to the magic number of electoral votes (270), and if his razor-thin lead in Nevada holds up, he will be the elected president.  

Politicians from the dominant groups have been working very hard for over a hundred years to keep minority voters from the polls.  Democrats from the end of the Civil War until after World War II, using special taxes on voting, excessive requirements to register, intimidation, and even murder to keep non-Caucasians from voting.  Republicans have taken up the challenge, and their efforts have accelerated as more and more of electorate become non-Caucasian (I am told that over half of eligible voters are now from what used to be known as "ethnic minorities.")  The ploys include increasingly strict voter laws (photo identification, proof of residency, non-felonious background,), reducing days of early voting, reducing voting places and drop-off boxes, and the newest: challenging mail-in ballots, and late tabulating.  Note:  DJ Trump used a mail-in in 2016, and absentee ballots have been used at least since the Civil War in 1864.  

 A lot of hard work has gone into suppressing votes, and it has often worked.   DJ Trump has unleashed a legal blitz, trying to stop tabulation in its tracks.  However, it is seeming more and more like a death rattle, from a man willing to subvert the bedrock of our culture in order to hold on to power.  It probably won't work-- or will it?  If the Supreme Court decides that the present administration has a case, they may rule in his favor.   More sleep-interrupted nights and nail biting as we wait to find out.

 On a different  note, Joseph Robinette Biden would (will?) become the oldest president-elect to take office in our 244 years, he will turn 78 this month, November.   Kennedy, in 1960, was the youngest, at almost 44 years of age.  Up until now, DJ Trump was the oldest, at age 70, and Reagan the second oldest, at almost 70.   Age has never been a barrier in the past: Both Washington and Jefferson were 57 when they ascended.  Both Barak Obama and Bill Clinton were 47, and Grover Cleveland was 46.  So, whatever it takes to become president, age (except you have to be at least 35) doesn't appear to be a barrier.  One could argue that in our increasingly complex society, stamina and energy are important characteristics to have.  But not enough.  DJ Trump seems to have boundless energy, but his revolving door of policies, undying hates, bullying, and constant lying do nothing but reduce his ability to govern.   From this perspective, steady, mellow people-oriented policies may be much more important. 

On yet a different note:  This election, plus the 2016 national election a.have shown one thing very clearly:  Preference polls are not predictive of voting outcomes.  Obviously, what people say when asked, and what they do when voting, don't match up.  Or, pollsters are asking the wrong group of people. (Think David Brooks in 2015, and Gary Wills two weeks ago--both completely wrong in their conclusions.)   Either way, from now on, it makes sense to view voter polls with extreme scepticism.