Vance Seeks Distance From Iran War     11/05 06:30

   JD Vance publicly broke from President Donald Trump 's defense of the Iran 
war Wednesday after the Republican Party's deep losses in the midterm 
elections, attempting to distance himself from voters' clear rebuke of the 
president as the vice president faces questions about his own political 
ambitions.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- JD Vance publicly broke from President Donald Trump 's 
defense of the Iran war Wednesday after the Republican Party's deep losses in 
the midterm elections, attempting to distance himself from voters' clear rebuke 
of the president as the vice president faces questions about his own political 
ambitions.

   Vance, who has said he would decide after the election whether to run for 
president in 2028, issued a lengthy social media post blaming the unpopular 
conflict with Iran for the GOP's drubbing. Vance said, "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."

   But arguing that the war was worth it is what Trump repeatedly did on the 
campaign trail, continued to do in interviews as election results came in and 
did again Wednesday morning. As he led reporters on an impromptu visit to the 
ballroom he's constructing at the White House, Trump said, "The Iran thing, we 
had to do and we continue to do it."

   Trump said he spoke to Vance on Wednesday morning and, when asked about the 
vice president's post, he called it "good" and said, "I know how he feels about 
it," and "I think it was fine."

   The president also said he "knew the war was going to impact" the midterm 
elections but again defended his actions.

   Vance, who had long advocated for restraint in U.S. military intervention 
overseas, was lukewarm in his defense of the conflict after Trump launched it 
and even became the face of an unsuccessful attempt to end the fighting.

   Democrats plan to hold Vance accountable for the war 

   Democrats showed they intend to make Vance own the war.

   "If Vance has felt this way all along, why didn't he speak out forcefully?" 
Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. 
"Why didn't he resign? And most importantly, why didn't he stand up for 
Americans?"

   The vice president, she said, "will always do what's most politically 
convenient for him in the moment -- even if it means throwing Americans under 
the bus. Vance owns this administration's failures."

   Democrats swept control of both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, 
defeating GOP candidates even in deep-red areas that Trump carried by wide 
margins two years ago.

   "There's no doubt this is a repudiation of the last two years," said Marc 
Short, who was chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence and worked in 
Trump's White House in his first term.

   He said Vance will still have a big microphone as the sitting vice 
president, and the election results don't mean he won't be the GOP's nominee 
for president in two years.

   But, Short said, "It certainly doesn't help his case, that's for sure. I 
would argue it does hurt."

   When Pence was in the role, he intentionally tried not to distance himself 
from Trump and shared his opinions privately, Short said. But Vance's post 
Wednesday seemed to be "an intentional separation" from the president despite 
being inherently linked to him.

   "You made that bargain when you agreed to be vice president," he said.

   Vance says reason for loss is 'obvious to almost everyone' 

   Vance, in his post, said that Republican voters cast their ballots for 
Democrats because of the war, the cost of living, America not being prioritized 
and the U.S. relationship with Israel -- a dynamic where he's also sounded a 
different note than Trump.

   "The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone," he wrote.

   Unlike the president, Vance declined to endorseIsraeli Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection and this summer publicly chastised members of 
Israel's government for opposing Trump's efforts to resolve the war with Iran.

   Vance, who has been a staunch defender of the administration's immigration 
policies, also appeared to be seeking some distance from the immigration 
crackdown that drew a backlash.

   "I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement -- by focusing more 
on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance," he wrote.

   But he said he rejected any politicians who might propose amnesty for people 
living in the country illegally.

   Voters made it clear they disapproved of the Iran war 

   About 6 in 10 voters said the U.S. made the "wrong decision" in taking 
military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more 
than 100,000 voters in the United States. Most of those voters dissatisfied 
with the Iran war backed the Democratic candidate in their U.S. House race, but 
the survey suggested the Iran war was not the leading issue for most voters.

   Only about one-third of voters said the war in Iran was "crucial" to their 
vote for Congress, well below the roughly half who said that about the cost of 
living or government corruption.

   Nearly all voters who backed the Democratic candidate in their U.S. House 
race said going to war with Iran was the "wrong decision," while roughly 8 in 
10 voters who backed the Republican candidate said it was the "right decision."

   A former Marine who served in Iraq, Vance had been critical of that conflict 
and said after becoming vice president that a Trump administration would not 
send troops into the "open-ended conflicts" of the past.

   After Trump launched the war with Iran this past spring, Vance was 
noticeably quiet in speaking about it, a conspicuous change for a politician 
known for being a pugnacious defender of the president.

   This summer, he tried to argue the conflict was worth it, telling 
conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly in an interview that, "If we transformed 
the Middle East, this is fundamentally worth it."