Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein -- Thu. Oct. 01, 2026

A lack of enthusiasm.

I'm Jeff Stein with today's Iowa Politics Report.

We no longer have straight ticket voting here in Iowa where you could go into a voting booth, fill in a circle for one party and be done.

Casting a vote for all the Republicans or all the Democrats on the ballot.

Now I'm in favor of that because even though you may cast a ballot for all races based on party identification,

I think you should at least have to see the names in each race and give it more thought than a broad stroke.

Strong partisans don't necessarily like the rule because it's their job to preach party identity.

And many folks certainly feel that all other things being equal, they'll vote for the R or the D, even if they know nothing about the race.

Many folks I talk to these days though are somewhat lukewarm about some of the candidates their preferred party has on the ballot, and I'm talking to both Democrats and Republicans.

They'll ask what I think of a race, then follow up by saying that they're not a big fan of their party's candidate, but we'll have to vote for her or him anyway because at least the candidate is a Republican or is a Democrat.

And they usually add that it's far better to do that than have the far left or far right alternative get voted in.

That's a pretty sad commentary on the state of things, even worse than the usual voting for the lesser of two evils approach.

That's the sort of thing that leads to apathy, or staying home on election day.

If you're not fired up for a candidate, you're less likely to show up.

And even if you do,

You're less likely to bring friends or to donate money or time.

Some of it also is due to the open floodgates of money for ads, whether on TV, radio, or through direct mail.

It leads us to mentally shut down on the topic, with folks frequently saying they can't wait for it to be over.

Frankly, me too.

The election will be decided by the independents a huge voting block in the state.

More non-affiliated voters than registered Democrats, for example.

But if the base is ambivalent, imagine those without partisan skin in the game.

We elect folks and then we get what we deserve.

With poor choices as the only options, that's an especially tough pill to swallow.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Thursday, October 1 on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter, Threads and Truth Social at Iowa Politics.

I'm Jeff Stein on News Talk 1540, KXEL.