TCB Editorial · original
Iran has gone wrong. The midterms are not lost.
This page backed the strikes and backs the goal. Support is not silence, and the results so far do not match the promise. The midterms are not lost.
Presidents of both parties let Iran’s nuclear ambitions grow for decades. President Donald Trump decided to end that, and when he ordered strikes on Feb. 28, he was right about the goal. The goal remains worth pursuing: an Iran without a nuclear weapon, a crippled regime and, in time, freedom for the Iranian people. This page backed him then and backs the goal now.
But support is not silence, and the results so far do not match the promise.
The White House said the campaign would take four to six weeks. It has now run about seven months. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes, yet the regime held, and his son Mojtaba Khamenei now holds the post. Iran disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and this weekend it said the strait will stay closed until its conditions are met. About 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, a short step from weapons grade, has gone unverified for most of a year, according to reporting on International Atomic Energy Agency findings. The enemy was underestimated. Pressure is building, too: The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 7 that a U.S. naval blockade, reinstated July 14, has halted new Iranian oil exports from the Persian Gulf. Trump says Iran is “ready to fold up” and that strikes could resume after the Nov. 3 election if talks fail.
The cost
The cost sorts into three categories, and every household feels all three.
Fuel
AAA put the national average for regular at $4.41 on Oct. 1, about $1.25 above a year ago. September averaged $4.33, a record for the month; the old mark was $3.83 in 2023. The all-time high of $5.02, set in June 2022, still stands, but no driver is comforted by that.
Prices
Consumer prices rose 3.4% in the 12 months through August. Excluding food and energy, the increase was 2.4%. Groceries rose 2.2%, so the gap is mostly energy.
Rates
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate Sept. 16 to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since 2023, citing inflation tied in part to oil prices.
Credit where it is due
Southwest border apprehensions were 9,295 in July. Nicolás Maduro was captured Jan. 3, and Chevron plans a $7 billion investment to more than double its Venezuelan output to 600,000 barrels a day by 2031. A Sept. 22 agreement expands U.S. military access in Greenland while leaving Denmark’s sovereignty intact. Foreign direct investment reached about $232 billion in 2025. The tax cuts are law.
Those are real achievements. They are also the wrong column for a voter at a gas pump. A family measures a presidency by what is left after the bills are paid. A quick win in Iran would have changed that math, and it did not come.
The politics
Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 8.3 points in the RealClearPolitics average. Trump’s approval stands near 37% in the Silver Bulletin average. In a Marquette poll, 26% approved of his handling of the Iran war, only 13% said the United States had achieved its goals, and 21% called the war worth its cost.
So the stakes are plain. A Democratic House would bring subpoenas, stalled spending bills and probably impeachment talk. A Democratic Senate would block nominees. A House majority could not repeal the tax cuts over a veto, but it could freeze nearly everything else, and Trump would spend his last two years as a lame duck. Expect pressure for higher taxes and bigger government.
The argument for turnout
That is the argument for turnout. Conservatives, independents, Republicans and MAGA supporters all have the same job on Nov. 3: vote. Midterm electorates run smaller than presidential ones, so each vote counts for more. Polls are snapshots. Pump prices are a grievance, not a ballot. Check your state’s early-voting window and use it.
Trump owns the Iran problem, and this page has said so. Owning it does not change what is at stake. America needs Trump’s Agenda. Trump needs and deserves your vote.
Jack MajorEditor in Chief, The Conservative Bugler