Will the United States be destroyed prior to its 250th anniversary? Can White House candidate Kamala Harris be more than a puppet spokesperson for unseen political interests with far more experience and ideological motivation? How has her questionable prosecutorial career in terms of fairness prepared her to be presidential? Is the American public destined to be judged by race, income and party affiliation rather than intelligence, ambition and merit? Should the productive element of our society be supporting illegal aliens and workforce dropouts? Will the open-border policy be viewed by historians as the downfall trigger for a society that has been exemplary throughout its existence? Take two steps backward and survey the landscape. This election is not an entertaining sporting event. After four terms of back and forth between the political teams, it’s not hard to distinguish policies that have worked from those that haven’t. This year’s tipping-point test of public sentiment should be about federal policies, not parties or personalities. Phil Osifer