They don't know how the election will turn out, so for now they're just 'keeping their powder dry'.
The girls put on their lipstick and (face) 'powder' before heading out to the dance.
The boys decided to 'take a powder' as soon as they saw there was work to be done.
(..) Shit. Fuck. Next time, if you want to shoot somebody ... ...you might wanna use, you might wanna use powder. ...prime your rifle. Come on... ...let's get up. Grab your shit. Fresh blood. This could be powaqa. (..)2015 The Revenant