"We are all students of power," a veteran official once told me (quite flatteringly), and this is true. The coming 2022 election is very interesting not only because it could ( or could not) mark the end of an era; it also presents perhaps the biggest chance for an administration to succeed itself since 1992. Many of my columns over the past couple of years have tried examining this situation from various angles. In Opposition is total from February 24, 2021 I pointed out how all-encompassing ruling coalitions break up as a presidential term ends and the big players become oppositionists. On a related note, Why 'pre-campaigning' is necessary from July 7, 2021 explained the dynamics of a president's last year in office and the jockeying for the election to come.In Welcome to the lost decade from May 12, 2021 I looked into the (dire) economic situation of the country going into 2022; while in Collecting biases from May 26, 2021 I explored political communications where the goal hasn't been the creation of a majority, but instead, the consolidation of minorities into a slightly larger minority than others.In The ruling money from January 6, 2021 and in An epidemic of clans from June 9, 2021, I tackled political parties as subsidiaries of business conglomerates and the question of political families. In The Great Fear from June 2, 2021 and in Some LGU leaders bloodier than others from June 16, 2021, I tackled motivations going into 2022: particularly in terms of the so-called "war on drugs."In a commentary, Today began yesterday from July 6, 2021, I tried to distill my thoughts on local and national electoral dynamics. In The 500-year interval from April 28, 2021 I looked at an intriguing phenomenon: the stripping away of the Western veneer of our political culture.In Candidates looking for a reason from July 21, 2021 I tackled why candidates can't find a way to prove they have anything besides ego behind their candidacies.