A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research asked 1,165 adults their views on the continued war against Iran’s regime, which is now entering a sixth month.
Asked directly if the war has “been worth fighting,” only 33% said it has while 64% answered no.
A vast majority of Democrats predictably answered “no” to that question, 87% , but the poll also found 67% of Independents and 37 percent of Republicans answered “no” as well.
Robert Maginnis, a national defense analyst and retired U.S. Army officer, told American Family News he was not surprised by the poll.
“I think, generally, the president came into office and he wasn't going to start wars. Well, he started a war,” Maginnis said flatly.
Asked for his reaction to the poll, Washington Times columnist Robert Knight told AFN unhappiness over gas prices is reflected in the negative polling.
“One is $4-a-gallon gasoline that drives up all kids of prices,” he observed, “and people are fed up with the high prices.”
The latest figures from AAA, on July 31, is a national average of $4.10 per gallon of unleaded regular. That price averaged $3.84 a month ago and $3.14 one year ago, according to AAA figures.
AFN reported in a recent story President Donald Trump blamed high gas prices on “gasoline retailers” in a June social media post that accused them of price gouging, but this month he told reporters gas prices will “go down rapidly” when the war against Iran ends.
Knight said a second factor in the poll is the “defeatist” attitude of Trump-hating Democrat voters and the Democratic Party itself.
One example is a controversial X post from Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy. He wrote “Awesome” in reaction to news Iranian vessels had sneaked past the U.S. naval blockade.
Murphy later insisted his one-word comment was misunderstood, but other far-left American activists were more candid when they attended the state funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei in support of the Iranian regime.
The flash point in that ongoing war is the Strait of Hormuz, the famous choke point controlled by Iran, where commercial ships must transit when moving between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Trump has repeatedly bragged about the U.S. naval blockade around the Strait, calling the U.S. the “guardian” of the strait and telling Fox News the U.S. controls it. Iran has repeatedly attacked commercial vessels moving through it with fast-attack boats, missiles, and mines during the month of July.
Looking ahead to the midterm elections, Maginnis said the elections and control of Congress will hinge on if Americans believe they’re doing better or worse under President Trump. One factor is the war against Iran, which affects GOP candidates.
“And whether you like it or not,” Maginnis stressed, “what the president does with your party has consequences down ballot.”
