Mark Halperin

You can tell it from talking to people as I do on two-way.

They haven't been clear enough.

And now that we've got this binary conflict, this zero-sum conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, now we're into this question of, does the public want to have that fight?

What's that going to involve?

How much money are we spending on the mission overall, the operation overall?

How much is it going to cost to open the Strait of Hormuz?

And how effective will it be?

Will any Americans die?

Public sentiment, what the public thinks about this is so important.

I want to read you three quotes from great American presidents and what they've said about this question that pertains to domestic policy too, but it's particularly germane when it comes to war.

Abraham Lincoln said, public sentiment is everything.

With public sentiment, nothing can fail.

Without it, nothing can succeed.

Woodrow Wilson, public opinion is a more potent force than any army.

And Harry Truman said,

Again, another president thinking about the importance of public opinion said, in a democracy, the will of the people is the law of the land.

These are things that are absolutely true.

And right now, the public opinion polls show the base of the Republican Party is for the war.

But this war is not going to be won with the base.

The president needs broader public support and his inconsistent rhetoric, I think,