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Sunday, March 01, 2026
New Poll Shows Affordability Is Still A Potent Issue
The charts above are from the ABC News / Washington Post / Ipsos Poll -- done between February 12th and 17th of a nationwide sample of 2,589 adults, with a 2 point margin of error.
Why Did Trump Attack Iran At This Time?
Early Saturday morning, Donald Trump told Americans that he had launched a "massive and continuing" attack on Iran. Israeli planes also participated in the attack.
The attack came as a surprise to most. Although Trump was poised to attack with a huge military presence in the Middle East, news reports quoted both the Iranian and U.S. negotiators as having made good progress toward reaching a diplomatic solution. In fact, the Iranians were offering more concessions than ever before.
But it wasn't enough for Trump evidently. He doesn't negotiate. He just bullies and expects others to give in to his demands. So he attacked. Why?
It wasn't for regime change. No one expects a bombing campaign to do that. A country under attack is far more likely to unify than to overthrow its government. And after the thousands recently killed in demonstrations in Iran, one would expect the government to be even more brutal while being attacked by another country.
It wasn't for U.S. security. Despite Trump claims, Iran doesn't pose a real threat to the United States. Their missiles cannot reach the United States (and estimates are that they are at least 10 years away from developing missiles that can).
It wasn't because they were close to developing a nuclear bomb. The attacks last year did serious damage to their nuclear program - and they were negotiating a treaty that would stop any development of nuclear weapons.
You can call me a cynic, but I think the attack was done to distract from his domestic problems.
The Epstein files have become a more serious problem for Trump, with many pages that accuse Trump of sexually abusing a teenager having been withheld by the Justice Department. A majority of Americans believe Trump is trying to cover up misdeeds in the Epstein scandal, and about half believe Trump was involved in Epstein's criminal misdeeds.
He is also in serious trouble on the economy. While he has helped the rich to get even richer, his policies have made most Americans poorer. They are having trouble affording a decent life in this country. He scores very low in the polls on his economic agenda, and signs are that his party is heading for a huge defeat in November (with Democrats winning one of both houses of Congress).
Add to this the fact that the public has turned against his immigration policies - seeing them as unnecessarily cruel.
The fact is that on the domestic front his administration is in deep trouble. A smart president would change policies to help people, but Trump's narcissism won't allow that. He cannot admit he's wrong on any issue.
So, he attacks Iran. He does this to pose as a savior of the country - hoping to get most Americans to drop other concerns and unite behind him. It's just a huge distraction from his domestic problems - and sadly, a distraction that puts American military personnel in danger.
I don't think it will work. Outside of his MAGA cult, most Americans now realize the truth about Trump - that it was a serious mistake to allow him back in power.
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