News Flash: Public Just Not That Interested

When I was first elected to the Iowa Senate, I had to get adjusted to the "fishbowl" nature of being a legislator. During the session, the media is watching, there's folks in the balcony, there's constituents visiting the Capitol, forums at home, and letters to the editor commenting on my performance.

Many legislators begin to feel as if the public is watching every single vote and evaluating every single statement. At any moment, there's a fear that an uncontrollable controversy will break out, leading to embarrassment and/or a defeat in the next election.

Then the session ends. Citizen legislators go home. I would often be sitting in the stands during my son's Little League games when someone would approach and ask, "what are you doing here? Are you on break?"

They'd be somewhat embarrassed to hear that Iowa has a part-time legislature and that the session had ended months before baseball season.

But that type of experience was a reality check for me. Citizens have busy lives--working, raising kids, going on vacation, etc. There's no time to follow every intricate detail of the legislative process.

As you hear stories of how this long primary is damaging the eventual GOP nominee, keep that in mind. I find it ironic that this story detailing how the Romney campaign is trying to shape public perception of the candidate contains this statement:

Just 38 percent of independents said they had considerable interest in the primary fight, according to a February AP-GfK poll. The rest had only a passing interest or no interest at all. That's far lower than partisans — 73 percent of Republicans said they had a great deal or quite a bit of interest in the election.

The average voter engages after Labor Day. There's plenty of fun stuff to do before that date and no time to contemplate how Mitt Romney is dressing in public appearances.