On the morning after Democrats’ historic victory in Tuesday’s midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance offered a blunt post-mortem of his party’s failure: “The reason we lost is the war.” Vance pointed out that while 2024 Republican voters showed up to the polls, they did so this time to rebuke the White House. Betraying a promise of no new wars, Donald Trump launched a regime change war on Iran that has spiked the cost of living. Citing his own pollsters, Vance additionally acknowledged that voters would like the US to “change our relationship to Israel,” a state that commits live-streamed mass murder in Gaza, lobbied for the Iran war, and plays a toxic role in US political life.
Vance is trying to save his 2028 presidential ambitions from an unpopular war of aggression that he himself has defended, despite his own reported misgivings from the start. If Democrats wish to continue their winning streak, the vice-president’s public effort at damage control, however cynical, is not to be dismissed. The Middle East is not the only war zone disrupting the global economy and fueling populist resentment. The other is the proxy war in Ukraine, a signature Biden policy that Democrats across the spectrum have embraced.
