Iowa Politics: The Real Blue Wave (Nov. 12, 2026)

The Real Blue Wave.

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

I did our weekly grocery shopping early on Saturday morning.

My but the bad language was flying among shoppers as they pushed their carts up and down the aisles.

No, not because of the election results a few days before.

The blue language was instead thanks to the store rearranging everything on the shelves.

You may recall I whined about something similar in the past.

I'm sure it was probably five years ago, but it seems like they just did it.

Either that or I just got used to the way it was.

If it was on the left side of aisle two, for example, now it's on the right side of aisle three.

If it was on the right side at the end of the dairy aisle, it's now on the left side at the front of the aisle.

If it was there last week, well, it's somewhere else this week.

Now, I know why the store does it.

If it keeps moving the merchandise, then you have to go up and down every aisle just to find what you're looking for.

And in the process, well, you might pick up another item or ten you wouldn't have otherwise.

Me being me, I'll deliberately not pick up anything I find that way.

I'll show them.

In the meantime, however, you will find scowling shoppers with their lists

organized by the old aisle order, clenched in one hand, the other hand, steering the cart, and all the while muttering things under their breath.

You know, they really should put a language advisory warning on the door to the store.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Thursday, November 12th on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter, Threads, and Truth Social at Iowa Politics.

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