One of my political science professors insisted that most voters make their voting decisions early, typically weeks before an election, and are not influenced by what they see or hear in the final days of campaigning. For years, I trusted that theory. Now, in the Trump years, I’m not so sure.

In these past few weeks, we who cannot escape the noise have been subjected to increasingly loud and bizarre claims by one party in particular, while the other party, insistently and with voices grown hoarse by the effort, calls for calm, intelligent thought. Yes, that’s my bias speaking, without apology. I don’t believe that a large group of humble, suffering people walking hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles, trying to seek a better life away from poverty and violence, poses a threat to me or my country.

This midterm election is not about an imagined invasion of people different from us. It is about power in our central government and who shall have it. For those of you who choose not to vote, I urge you to go ahead and do it anyway, for this particular election could not be more important.

Eagerly we turn to professional pollsters to offer us hints about who’s ahead in this or that race. Rear view mirror wisdom reminds us that we trusted polls that assured us that Hillary would easily win the presidency.

No, this is up to us, simply by casting our carefully thought-out votes. Journalism that I trust is reporting that many more thousands of us have come to realize this. It’s about time. I’ve never understood why everyone who can vote in an election doesn’t exercise that privilege.

We have one more chance, and it comes tomorrow. Time to be truly American.