The war with Iran has dragged on for nearly seven months, fuel prices have soared, public support has deteriorated—and some Republican candidates who previously backed Donald Trump are now calling for the conflict to end.

For months, Republicans largely stood behind Donald Trump as the United States fought an expanding war with Iran.

Now, with the midterm elections approaching, some of them are beginning to put distance between themselves and the president.

The reason isn't difficult to find.

Americans are paying for the war every time they pull into a gas station.

And voters increasingly say the conflict hasn't been worth the cost.

A September Marquette Law School national poll found just 26 percent approved of Trump's handling of the Iran war.

Only 21 percent said the war had been worth its cost.

And just 13 percent believed the United States had achieved its objectives in the conflict.

Those numbers would be politically difficult under any circumstances.

Less than six weeks before a national election, they are becoming impossible for vulnerable Republicans to ignore.

Republicans Begin Breaking With Trump

Two Republican Senate candidates recently did something that would have been remarkable only months ago.

They publicly called for the war to end.

In Michigan, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers released a campaign advertisement declaring that the Iran war needed to end quickly.

Rogers had previously supported Trump's military actions and opposed efforts to restrict the president's authority while negotiations were underway.

Now he's talking about the war primarily through the economic pain being experienced by Michigan families.

In Iowa, Republican Senate candidate and current House member Ashley Hinson went even further.

She called for the war to be brought to an immediate and successful conclusion while proposing a suspension of gasoline taxes and a temporary halt to diesel exports.

The change was particularly notable because Hinson had repeatedly voted against congressional efforts to restrict Trump's authority to continue the war.

Now, as she campaigns for a Senate seat, she's telling voters they shouldn't have to continue paying for the conflict at the gas pump and grocery store.

It Isn't Just Two Candidates

The movement isn't limited to Hinson and Rogers.

Republican Iowa Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, both facing competitive reelection campaigns, reversed their previous positions and joined Democrats in voting to restrict Trump's authority to continue military operations in Iran.

Then came the Senate.

On September 24, senators considered a resolution directing Trump to end military action in Iran without congressional authorization.

The resolution failed narrowly, 50-49.

But four Republican senators broke with most of their party and supported it:

Susan Collins of Maine.

Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

The measure failed.

But the political message was becoming harder to miss.

Republican unity behind the war is weakening.

Then There Are the Gas Prices

Foreign wars can seem distant.

Gas pumps aren't.

The Iran conflict disrupted energy markets and helped push gasoline and diesel prices sharply higher.

According to Marquette's September polling, 80 percent of Americans said gasoline prices had increased during the previous six months.

Trump's approval rating on gasoline prices?

20 percent.

His approval on inflation and the cost of living was even lower:

19 percent.

That's particularly damaging because inflation and the cost of living remain the issue Americans surveyed by Marquette identified most frequently as their top concern.

Trump returned to office after campaigning heavily on affordability.

Now Americans are paying higher energy costs during a war his administration initiated.

For farmers, truckers and businesses dependent on diesel fuel, the effect can be especially visible.

Farm equipment runs on diesel.

Trucks delivering food run on diesel.

Construction equipment runs on diesel.

Those costs don't remain at the fuel pump.

They work their way through the economy.

Trump Says the War Is Worth the Price

Trump has defended the conflict and argued that Americans should accept higher energy prices as the price of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

He has also acknowledged that oil prices may not return to previous levels until after the midterm elections.

But the public appears increasingly unconvinced.

Marquette asked Americans a remarkably straightforward question:

Has the Iran war been worth the cost?

Seventy-nine percent said no.

The poll also asked whether the United States had achieved its goals in the war.

Eighty-seven percent said it had not.

Those aren't measurements of whether voters support one particular military operation or strategy.

They represent a much broader judgment about the conflict itself.

And those numbers have been getting worse.

In May, 28 percent said the war had been worth the cost.

By September, that had fallen to 21 percent.

Republicans Have Another Problem

The political danger isn't limited to the war.

It is colliding with dissatisfaction over the economy.

Marquette found Trump's approval on the economy at 28 percent.

Approval on inflation and the cost of living stood at 19 percent.

Approval on gas prices stood at 20 percent.

Approval on Iran stood at 26 percent.

Those issues aren't occurring independently.

For many voters, they're becoming the same issue.

The war affects energy prices.

Energy prices affect transportation.

Transportation costs affect groceries and consumer goods.

Higher diesel costs affect farmers and manufacturers.

And all of it arrives while Americans are already frustrated about affordability.

That helps explain why Republican candidates aren't simply talking about military strategy when they distance themselves from Trump.

They're talking about people's wallets.

The Midterms Are Getting Closer

The November election will determine control of Congress.

And Republicans are defending narrow majorities while candidates in competitive states increasingly have to answer questions about a war that many of them initially supported.

That creates an uncomfortable choice.

They can continue defending Trump's Iran policy even as public support deteriorates.

Or they can separate themselves from the president and explain why their position has changed.

Some have chosen the second option.

Democrats have accused Republicans such as Hinson and Rogers of election-year repositioning.

Those Republicans, meanwhile, argue that circumstances have changed and that the conflict now needs to be brought to an end.

Voters will ultimately decide how much those changes matter.

But the shift itself is significant.

Republicans who once defended Trump's authority to wage the war are now campaigning on ending it.

The War Followed Republicans Home

Trump's political strength has always depended partly on his ability to make complicated issues extraordinarily simple.

Immigration.

Trade.

Crime.

Prices.

War.

He spent years criticizing America's involvement in prolonged overseas conflicts and presenting himself as the president who would avoid them.

Now the United States is approaching seven months of war with Iran.

Americans overwhelmingly tell pollsters that the country's objectives haven't been achieved.

They overwhelmingly say the conflict hasn't been worth the cost.

And they are encountering higher fuel prices in their everyday lives.

That leaves Republicans running for Congress with a problem they can no longer treat as something happening thousands of miles away.

The Iran war has followed them home.

It's at the gas station.

It's on the grocery bill.

It's showing up in the polls.

And now it's showing up in Republican campaign ads.