The national media has begun to take note this week that the Iran War is expected to dominate the midterm conversation. This is especially after Republican Sen. Rand Paul's recent warnings. As we reported, he said days ago midterm elections could be "disastrous" if the Iran war persists into a quagmire.
"Already, we are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process," Paul had told Fox Business. "I think if you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action — people don’t want to call it war — if there’s still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think you’re going to see a disastrous election," the libertarian senator added.
If the war continues into the summer and even the fall, this would further raise real concern for US Vice President JD Vance as he eyes the 2028 presidential election. The longer it goes, the more likely that Republican voters would turn on the White House.
Since Trump's Operation Epic Fury started, there are reports that Vance has canceled some public appearances.
But there were some instances Friday and this week of him being in front of the camera, fielding some difficult questions from reporters. Importantly, he avoided a particular question over his personal views of the Iran war. Here's how it went:
US Vice President JD Vance is pressed several times by reporters today to respond to comments made by President Donald Trump earlier this week that he was less enthusiastic about launching a war with Iran.
"The president and I and the entire senior team are talking about the options" in the Situation Room, Vance responds.
"It’s important for the president of the United States to talk to his advisers without" those advisers "running their mouths," he adds, without directly answering the question or denying the premise.
Reports have mounted of Vance expressing concern about the US finding itself in a protracted conflict with Iran.
One thing is for sure: just like Trump, Vance had while on the campaign trail eloquently articulated the need to stay out of foreign quagmires which don't ultimately serve Washington's interest or which can be deemed America First.
Like Trump, he has critiqued America's 'forever wars' in places like Iraq or Afghanistan. And of course, recent history shows that Bush's 2003 Iraq invasion and long bloody occupation was a big reputational black eye for the Republican Party for many years after, paving the way for an Obama presidency from 2009 to 2017.
In the case of the Iran war, which Trump has called an "excursion" - if the US can't find a way to extricate itself soon while giving off perceptions of 'victory' - then it could prove politically very costly not just for Republicans in the midterms but even for the future presidency in 2028 and beyond.
This would especially be the case if US action in Persia morphed into a ground war. With such foreign interventions and 'wars of choice' - the pattern is the longer the conflict goes, the more unpopular it becomes among voters at home.
In 2009, Gen. Anthony Zinni (US Marine and retired head of US Central Command) warned about getting into war with Iran:
"If you follow this all the way down, eventually I'm putting boots on the ground somewhere. And like I tell my friends, if you like Iraq and Afghanistan, you'll love Iran."
There have been several reports this week, and as Operation Epic Fury is about to enter week three, that Trump's advisers are looking for a politically expedient offramp, even though the Commander-in-Chief himself hasn't shown signs the US will back off its military campaign.
With Vance, if he can give off public signs that he is indeed "skeptical" over the Iran war, then this might actually help him among many MAGA voters.
In the meantime, probably moments like the below won't help things...