When asked about the reasons why Republicans were soundly defeated in the midterm election Vice President JD Vance posted to X, "The reason we lost is the war… If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so."
Florida’s outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis similarly said the Iran war was a “big, big drag” on the Republican Party.
During an appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s show on SiriusXM Gov. DeSantis told Smith Trump “…obviously ran saying he wasn’t going to do a Middle East war, where he did. We have some of our voters who’ve checked out because they’re like, ‘I didn’t want any more Middle East wars and now we’re doing it…’”.
“Had that been wrapped up in like a week — like Venezuela was very quick — people, it probably wouldn’t have been an issue right now, right? But what’s happened is, it’s kind of an open-ended conflict and it’s having a direct impact on people’s finances because they’re going to the gas pump. They’re seeing energy prices have gone up.”
Polls tend to back Gov. DeSantis’s analysis. Rasmussen Reports found that earlier in the conflict (March 2026), 61% viewed the military operation as successful, though public backing eroded as the war progressed into the summer and autumn.
By July 23–27, 2026, Rasmussen found that 54% of likely voters believed going to war in Iran was the wrong decision, while 35% thought it was the right decision (11% were not sure).
And, despite all of President Trump’s bluster, claims of victory and that “Iran wants a deal,” only 37% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the United States is winning the war, 33% consider the conflict to be a stalemate, and 17% actually told Rasmussen that Iran is winning the war.
No one can argue with Gov. DeSantis’s point that the war with Iran remains an open-ended conflict, without a decisive outcome, such as we achieved against the Nicholas Maduro regime in Venezuela.
But it has been an “open-ended conflict” for almost 50 years, not by our choice, but by the choice of Iran’s leaders, who, starting with the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared war on America and pursued nuclear weapons to win it.
When asked what the lesson of the first Gulf War was General S.F.Rodrigues, formerly Chief of Staff of the Indian Army said, "Don't fight the Americans without nuclear weapons."
The George Rasley corollary to that observation is “You don’t seek nuclear weapons unless you plan to fight the United States.”
So, to Vice President Vance’s point, what the polls told us going into the election was not that Americans were inalterably opposed to war with Iran, they were opposed to NOT WINNING a war with Iran.
Meaning the gamble on the political outcome of launching the war would have been worth it – and still could be worth it – if we actually achieved a demonstrable victory resulting in the termination of the political will behind Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
As General George S. Patton famously said in a speech to his troops during World War II, "Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time."
Donald Trump’s entire public persona was built around winning: The Art of the Deal, The Art of the Comeback, and The Apprentice were all about Donald Trump the winner.
And right now, despite all the statistics about targets destroyed, ships sunk and the wreckage of Iran’s economy, thanks to Iran’s “rope-a-dope” strategy, Donald Trump looks like a loser.
When history looks back on Donald Trump’s second term as President all of his other accomplishments; rebuilding American manufacturing, ending the open borders policy and the illegal alien invasion that accompanied it, driving the crime rate down to the lowest point in decades, the lowest poverty rate and highest employment numbers ever (and more) will all be forgotten in the face of the results – or lack of results – in the war he launched to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The way to stop having “forever wars” is to win the wars in which we engage. To avoid going down in history as one of the greatest losers ever to occupy the White House Donald Trump has only one choice – renew offensive operations against Iran until the political ideology that motivates Iran’s nuclear weapons program is destroyed and a real victory is achieved.
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for former Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry formerly a member of the House Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
