On Wednesday, while on the tarmac about to board Air Force One for the trip to the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, President Trump stopped to take questions from the press, as is his wont. In reply to one of the questions, the president made a rather interesting prediction: That the war with Iran will end "immediately" after the American midterm elections.

The president said:

I think the war (with Iran) is going to end immediately after the election. I think the war will end immediately after the election. Because they can't hold out any longer. They are desperate to try to affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there, and leave them alone, and let them have their nuclear weapon. All they want is a nuclear weapon. And if they had a nuclear weapon, the whole world is in deep trouble.

It's not an unreasonable point to make; Iran must know that if Democrats take control of Congress in the midterms, the result will be a softer line towards Iran. President Trump would still be the commander-in-chief, but a Democrat majority would still have the ability to hamstring the administration's efforts - and if Iran can hold out that long, it may well be to its benefit in the long run, although any policy change won't be immediate, election or no election. 

The president also said (speaking on the strikes on Iranian tankers):

The attacks are made by us. We knocked out nine of their ships. So I would say the attacks are caused by us, yeah, and you're going to see, you're going to see a lot more. We've taken out about nine of their tankers. 

Iran is fast running out of resources. But fuel prices in the United States still present a problem, as well; and that may add to Iran's leaders wanting to hang on until November, to give the Democrats what they see as an edge.

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Trump spoke as the war causes energy prices to skyrocket. Diesel fuel, which is now almost $6 a gallon on average, hit a record high last week and regular gasoline now averages $4.22 per gallon, up from $4.01 one month ago, according to AAA. Energy costs have driven up the price of everyday items such as groceries and are driving inflationary concerns and voter anger. Trump also claimed that gas would drop below $2 a gallon after the midterms.

That may well be true. Gas prices were higher midway through the only (thankfully) Biden term, but people all too often have short memories. After the midterms doesn't do the Republican majority any good; it would be preferable for prices to drop before the midterms. 

In that tarmac conversation, President Trump also indicated that the United States wasn't actively pursuing another deal; he seems to be striking the tone that the United States is going to try to squash Iran flat, economically and militarily, then dictate terms. Frankly, that is how wars have been fought throughout most of human history; you win by destroying the enemy's capacity to resist any longer. Now the United States is doing this in large part by freezing Iran's finances, and that may well work better, and faster, than the military strikes.

President Trump, though, is embracing the power of "and." And what we have to do, here, is to embrace the power of turnout. Vote, vote, vote!