JD Vance just dropped his first bomb in a war for the GOPs future

On Wednesday morning, Vice President JD Vance lamented one war and lit the match on another.In a jaw-dropping statement released on the heels of his party’s historic defeat in the midterms, Vance broke with the administration that bears his name.“The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone,” he asserted.“The reason we lost is the war.”According to Vance, the Trump 2024 voters who crossed the aisle to vote for Democrats this time around would only come back home if Republicans did the following: end the war in Iran, tackle the cost of living crisis, “put America First” and “change our relationship to Israel.”“In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting,” he warned, a match in hand and a barrel of crude oil beside him.The veep’s parting shot? A directive to his fellow travelers to take their anger and put it “into electing Republicans who share your worldview.”Where to start?Vance’s diagnosis is that of the doctor who mistakes one of a number of visible tumors for the disease itself.There’s no disputing that the war in Iran contributed to the GOP’s midterm wipeout, but it was an aggravating factor, not the principal one.Across myriad exit polls, voters identified the economy — and the high cost of living, in particular — as well as government corruption, as the most important issues to them.NBC News’ exhaustive survey found just 4% identified foreign policy as the most important issue to them this year.It also found that 74% considered the war to be a “crucial” or “major” motivator for their decision at the ballot box.But that paled in comparison to the 90% of voters who said the same thing about corruption, and the 89% who said the same about the cost of living.Two years ago, Trump and Vance rode into Washington alongside Republican majorities in the House and Senate with a mandate to lower — or at the very least slow the steady climb of — prices.Instead of pursuing the anti-inflati...