Power Line has a different “take” on the dissatisfaction that led to a big GOP loss in the election just concluded. Analyzing some fine grained poll data, they conclude that people weren’t unhappy with the Iran war - as VP Vance alleged - but rather with the protracted, tentative, and inconclusive way it was conducted after initial bombing success.
When the Fox News Voter Poll asked if going to war with Iran was the right or wrong decision, roughly 6 in 10 voters said it was the wrong decision. But the Harvard CAPS/Harris polls asked follow-up questions that suggest voters don’t want to abandon the war—they want to finish it the right way. Asked if the Iranians were negotiating in good faith, 65% of respondents said no. Should the Iranians be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz? Sixty-seven percent said no, including a majority of both parties.
The poll also asked if Iran should be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, and 85% said no. People agree with the objectives of the conflict, and those objectives may not be achievable without conflict. Asked whether the U.S. is justified in using force if the Iranians refuse to yield on these key issues, 63% said yes. The war has dragged on when voters wanted it to be won—and they still do….
All of which makes me wonder if fear of being called a “war criminal” has kept the US from destroying the civilian infrastructure of Iran. Doing so could have caused the regime there to fall. It’s a squeamishness Putin has notably failed to exhibit in Ukraine.
Later … Gatestone Institute has an article which lays out in tiresome detail all the ways the US, fronted by VP Vance, gave back to Iran many of the gains our bombing and blockade had achieved.
