To the Editor:
Re “Vance Blames Iran War for G.O.P. Losses, Distancing Himself From Trump” (news article, nytimes.com, Nov. 4):
Who could have imagined before the Republican Party’s richly deserved election drubbing that Vice President JD Vance would subsequently turn on President Trump? That is precisely what Mr. Vance did when he said the war on Iran explains the colossal defeats.
In a social media post, Mr. Vance wrote: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. 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. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
Mr. Vance’s public challenge to the president was a not-so-subtle reminder that he had argued against the war and was overruled.
Mr. Vance is right that the extent to which the American people have paid for this failed, elective war was a powerful reason for the election of Democrats throughout the country, but there are other reasons. These included a lack of identification with working families suffering from inflation and high gas prices, brutal immigration authorities terrorizing communities and a level of self-dealing engaged in by the president that was unimaginable before he took office.
If Mr. Vance is seeking to separate himself from the unpopularity of the president, he has taken a significant step toward doing it.
Oren Spiegler Peters Township, Pa.
To the Editor:
Re “With Sour Jabs, Vance Reveals Preview of ’28” (front page, Nov. 3):
These days candidates strive to achieve the Trump factor: a level of belligerent insults meant to impose your will on a relationship. While I have found President Trump to be consistently offensive and bullying, I have also heard from others that he is quite capable of being charming and an excellent host. It wouldn’t make me vote for him, but I understand how the two can coexist.
Vice President JD Vance, however, does not benefit from charm. The consistent feedback is that he is charmless and unlikable. It turns out that does not mix well with hypocrisy. If you root against the MAGA movement, you can only hope he’s the eventual nominee.
Steve Reich Short Hills, N.J.
Votes Not for Sale
To the Editor:
My biggest takeaway from the midterms is that money no longer buys elections.
Kamala Harris lost despite having plenty of money behind her in 2024; Elon Musk and wealthy Republican groups and donors have now suffered the worst midterm results in decades despite outspending Democrats. Traditional political certainties are being undermined. This is truly a sign of hope.
(Very Rev.) Ian S. Markham Alexandria, Va. The writer is the dean and president of Virginia Theological Seminary and the president of the General Theological Seminary in New York.
After Midterms, an Escalation in the Iran War?
To the Editor:
Re “Rising Fears and Threats Risk a Wider War in Iran” (front page, Oct. 26):
Anyone following U.S.-Iran relations for the past 40 years should not be surprised that the current low-boil conflict is likely to escalate after the midterm elections.
From the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah’s attack that killed 241 U.S. service members in Beirut in 1983 through the creation of Shiite militia and terror networks throughout the Middle East to its support for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and proxy war afterward, the Iranian regime has been unrelenting in its quest for regional dominance.
Add to this a steadily expanding nuclear and ballistic missile program, and the decades-long conflict shifted from challenging to potentially existential.
The U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 and the more extensive military operations in early 2026 have set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and its military capabilities by years. But the regime, its intentions and its police-state apparatus survive. That is an unacceptable status quo.
President Trump is correct that the United States should not fight a protracted land war in the Middle East. Fortunately, it need not do so. Washington has the military capacity, financial tools, network of regional allies and underlying support of the long-oppressed Iranian people to eliminate the regime’s ability to survive.
If accomplished with prudence and patience, this could lead to a transformative moment for the region, for Arabs, Jews, Palestinians and Iranians.
Unfortunately, the alternative appears to be decades more of the same.
Stuart Gottlieb New York The writer, a former Senate foreign policy adviser and speechwriter, teaches American foreign policy and international security at Columbia University.
Air Pollution and Cancer
To the Editor:
“After Return, Trump Gave Many Big Polluters a Pass” (front page, Oct. 25) describes in devastating detail President Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Clean Air Act. As an oncologist, I want to add that these rollbacks also put my patients in danger.
Burning fossil fuels releases toxic chemicals and microscopic particles that cause lung cancer and are linked to breast and other types of cancer. In fact, we now know that these particles are responsible for about 14 percent of all lung cancer deaths worldwide.
I am a lung cancer specialist and have treated many young people who have never smoked for advanced lung cancer. The culprit was likely to have been exposure to polluted air.
Burning fossil fuels also affects cancer patients through climate change. Hurricanes, floods and wildfires are intensifying and can damage treatment facilities, interrupt access to carefully scheduled radiation and chemotherapy treatments, and disrupt transportation.
Extreme heat can make it harder for the body to regulate its temperature and to process drugs. For immunosuppressed patients, these disruptions add to an already demanding burden.
Lowering the standards for industrial polluters does not just affect the environment. It affects the health of all Americans, particularly cancer patients like mine.
Joan H. Schiller Madison, Wis. The writer is the chair of the steering committee at Oncology Advocates United for Climate and Health International.
Get Moving
To the Editor:
Re “The Benefits of a Healthy Mind-Set” (Science Times, Nov. 3):
I am in my early 70s and go to the gym at 5 a.m. five days a week. Far from a chore, it is the best part of my day, giving me energy, clarity and a positive outlook.
Looking back on the years when I was striving for a promotion, I wonder whether an hour in the gym would have done me more good than all that worrying about my career as a teacher. Exercise might have given me a healthier perspective on myself, my responsibilities and my work.
We think of exercise as a way to keep our bodies fit. Its benefits go further; it changes how we think and feel.
Sometimes the best way to move forward is simply to get moving.
Enda Cullen Armagh, Northern Ireland
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