The war with Iran is reshaping America ahead of the midterms – how will it affect US voters at the polls? We’re live with political and global correspondents to answer your questions
-
Sign in or sign up to join the conversation
paxmansbeard asks: Should the Republicans lose control of both houses, do the Democrats have a plan for what happens next? It could work against them in the long run if they don’t have anything apart from not being fascist..
Lauren: This is, to me, the million dollar question. (Is million too small these days, billion-dollar?) My colleagues and I have documented the bubbling anger – not just at Trump but at the entire political system and establishment of both parties. This cycle we’ve really seen this flare on the left, where insurgent candidates toppled several long-serving incumbents on a message of ideological and generational change.
But to your question, Democrats have been struggling to define themselves and rally around an agenda that isn’t “anti-Trump” since his first term. What they decide to prioritize – even if they don’t have a filibuster – or veto – proof majorities will set the stage for the 2028 presidential campaign and beyond. If we take them at their word, I’d guess their priority will be on legislation focused on reducing costs, think housing, groceries, childcare, and eldercare. I also expect they would want to renew the now-expired ACA tax credits and push to restore or address cuts made to Medicaid.
Joseph Gedeon: Right, I don’t think the war created the gap so much as it made it impossible to ignore. Affordability has been the issue in American politics for about a decade…think about Bernie running in 2016 and 2020 with healthcare, student debt and wages. In the last election, Trump was running squarely on prices and inflation. Mamdani won in New York last year on rent freezes, affordability, free buses, etc, months before any of this. People knew that life was expensive pre-war.
Trump spent the 2024 campaign saying he’d bring prices down, including a pledge to slash energy costs, and he’s spent a lot of his time back in office insisting things are going great and that worrying about pesky affordability is overblown (anyone else remember when he was coming at the Biden administration from the other side???). One obvious wrinkle is January of this year, when the EIA was forecasting gas prices to fall this year, then he kicks off his surprise war alongside Israel, and inflation has instead gone from 2.4% that month to 3.4% by July. Vance himself said keeping oil and gas cheap was “goal number one”. As you know, the war is the opposite of cheap: it has cost $45.1 billion so far, and that’s not the full bill. It doesn’t include repairs to damaged bases and buildings — and the CBO estimates it could keep costing another $2-3 billion a month. The CBO also says the war will keep inflation about half a point higher than it otherwise would have been into early 2027.
The post Our reporters are answering your questions on how the Iran war will affect the midterm elections appeared first on World news | The Guardian.
