I always love seeing people post their "I Voted" stickers. This morning, driving into work after dropping the kids off, I passed so many polling locations, with the signs lining the roads with bright red letters inviting everyone to "Vote Here.” It was encouraging to see the parking lots full.
Early voting turnout is up from 2018 and 2022 (NPR, 2026). More than 57 million Americans had cast early ballots as of Monday (NBC News, 2026). About 46 million voted early in all of 2022 (No Labels, 2026). Everyone's already voted. If you haven't, go get in your car right now. You've got a couple hours left.
The elephant in the room (well, maybe the donkey too) is that we are more polarized than ever before.
Tonight and over the next few days, some people will be thrilled, some will be devastated, and some won't even remember who they bubbled in on their ballot. So, to face this polarization head-on, I sat down on my podcast with two people who spent their careers on opposite sides: a Republican and a Democrat who worked on opposing campaigns and won and lost to each other.
Marc Lotter was press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence and Director of Strategic Communication for the 2020 Trump campaign. Caroline Welles worked on the Clinton campaign in five states, spent seven years at the DNC, and served in the Biden administration.
As I interviewed both Marc and Caroline on my show, it's clear that despite their differences, they share similar concerns with elections in general, with the state of our country, with different generations, and with the future of voting.
Three of those stood out to me: 1) why young people vote less; 2) why the next generation has to think for themselves; and 3) why disagreeing well at home matters.
Why young people vote less
In 2022, adults ages 18 to 29 were 19.6% of eligible voters and 11.7% of those who voted. Adults 65 and older were 23.8% of eligible voters and 30.4% of those who voted (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024). This snapshot, without a deep dive, shows the disparity between young voters not coming out to vote and older voters placing more importance on it. Among early voters in the 14 states that report age this year, 48.1% are 65 or older and about 5% are under 25, as of October 28 (EFE, 2026).
Here is what they said in the interview:
Marc Lotter: “Young people are loud. They want to make their voices heard, but they don't actually show up to the polls, which is why you see political candidates rarely spending a lot of time addressing Gen Z or younger generations in general.”
So why do young people vote less? I think we, as older generations, have an opportunity to do a better job showing the next generation why voting matters.
Marc brought up the idea of the draft on the episode, and he said:
Marc Lotter: “I think the only time you're actually going to see a big uptick in young voters is when something very specific to them is on the ballot, whether that would be something like bringing back the draft. I'm not saying we should do that. I'm using that as an example.”
And Caroline agreed with him.
Caroline Welles: “This year, I agree with Marc that Gen Z might not vote if they don't think that their issues are on their ballot. But their issues are on the ballot. The economy affects them, right? Local infrastructure affects them. So I think it's about ensuring that they know what is at stake for them.”
Two people from opposing political persuasions agreed that there's an opportunity for us to do better for the next generation, showing Gen Z and young generations why it is important to vote today for their future.
Marc Lotter: “I think it also comes from parents. I think taking your kids, especially the young preteens and teenagers, before they're old enough to go to the polls, bring them with you. Let them see you vote. The pride that you take when you put on the I voted sticker, and that they want to do it themselves someday.”
The next generation has to think for themselves
The next generation being able to think for themselves is critical. So much of modern technology has removed the friction from critical thinking. The young generation, in particular, has been tied to the algorithm for so long that the algorithm does a lot of the thinking for them.
Among adults ages 18 to 29, 41% turn first to a search engine for breaking news and 31% to social media. 14% turn first to a news organization (St. Aubin, 2026).
Caroline Welles: “I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have social media for this exact reason. I deleted my Instagram account a couple of years ago. I go on TikTok sometimes, but then I feel sick afterwards, like when you eat too much candy... the solution is we all need to get off our phones.”
Marc Lotter: “You are basically being fed whatever Silicon Valley wants you to see.”
It's easy to poke holes and point fingers at what's broken today, but I really wanted to get to the bottom of how we fix this for the next generation. So, I asked both Marc and Caroline.
Marc Lotter: “First, let's not let them export it to AI. They need to do their own thinking. Don't let the supercomputers do it for you.”
Caroline Welles: “I would like to see more warnings, more labels, and more critical thinking being taught in schools about how to independently think. And I think that's the most important part, the independent thought... I have a one-year-old, and he's never going to know what it's like to grow up in a pre-tech world. So it's my job to show him how to think thoughtfully and independently about where he's getting his information and how to distill that on his own.”
Disagreeing at home
I'll never forget being at a dinner during the last presidential election cycle when someone firmly declared he would never have voted for a certain presidential candidate. I simply asked, "Why?" That's it. I was not trying to be antagonistic. I was not trying to be disagreeable or even question him. To be honest, I also was not voting for that candidate. And yet, this individual’s face grew bright red, and I thought he might pull a Yosemite Sam and have steam come whistling out of his ears.
Here I was, trying to have an educated conversation around a dinner table, which I feel is one of the best places to have a helpful conversation. But when I asked why, the conversation ended instead of starting. This is the issue that so many young kids today, Gen Alpha and Gen Z, have grown up with. We have removed room to disagree in a healthy and respectful way.
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Marc Lotter: “Make them back up their assertions at the dining room table if you want to talk about a policy or talk about an issue.”
Caroline Welles: “I actually am the product of two Republicans. My parents both are Republicans. My father used to fundraise for Republicans, et cetera, and I'm obviously a Democrat. So I think what Marc was saying is really important about encouraging debate at the dinner table. And it certainly worked for me.”
Marc Lotter: “For the last 10 years or so we have seen people being at each other's throats, yelling at each other, calling each other names... And so if I'm a young person, why would I want to get involved with that? I want to just shy clear of it, let the adults fight it out. But if you can see that we can have a healthy discussion, even if Caroline and I happen to disagree, if we can do it respectfully... maybe we disagree, but we don't have to be disagreeable.”
Kids learn by watching adults. If kids can't see adults disagree well, then they'll never learn to disagree well. I see too many adults acting as pacifists, quiet and not willing to have hard conversations, while others turn hard conversations into full-blown arguments and screaming matches. Neither is helpful. Kids need to see that it's okay to not agree with everyone, but disagreeing doesn't mean unfriending.
It was a privilege to bring together two people with opposing ideologies but a shared passion to see democracy thrive. Both Marc and Caroline shared high hopes for the next generation, but also put the onus on us, as the adults in the room. They agree that the next generation isn't voting enough. They agree that there are issues worth voting for. While they don't agree on policy, they agree that we live in an amazing country, and I think that's what's important.
The sides get along more than we think.
Understand what you're voting for. Like both Caroline and Marc said, don't just listen to the latest TikTok reel or just the ad or the postcard. Go to the actual sites and understand what's being said.
We can be unified. And that doesn't mean that we have to be uniform.
Inspire Forward,
YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Last week, you said
We asked: How often do you judge someone by their generation first?
THIS WEEK
When did you last have a real conversation with someone who votes differently than you?
One tap. Results next week.
ON THE RYAN VET SHOW
