{"id":15656,"date":"2026-03-04T19:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15656"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:21:41","slug":"why-are-we-in-iran-and-how-do-we-get-out-also-midterm-primary-results-in-tx-nc-ar-bradcast-342026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15656","title":{"rendered":"Why Are We In Iran? And How Do We Get Out?; Also: Midterm Primary Results in TX, NC, AR: ‘BradCast’ 3\/4\/2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be clear, as we discuss briefly at both the top and bottom of today’s BradCast<\/i><\/a>, there have been virtually NO election years in all of American history in which the nation wasn’t engaged in some sort of war or foreign conflict. So, for those who see Donald Trump<\/b>‘s latest attack on Iran<\/b> as some sort of scheme to try and undercut midterm elections this year, well, it ain’t gonna work, it never has, and though he may try anything, don’t be scared by his nonsense. That’s what he wants<\/i> you to be. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.<\/i>]\n

To that end today, we cover both<\/i> Tuesday’s first primary elections of the critical 2026 Midterms and<\/i> the growing debacle of Trump’s deadly, ongoing misadventure in Iran, which has quickly devolved into a broad regional conflict<\/a>. <\/p>\n

FIRST UP…<\/i> We covered many of the top-line (and some of the not so top-line) unofficial results out of Tuesday’s primaries in three states today. Tune in for all of it. But, among the most noteworthy results detailed on today’s program…<\/p>\n

No real surprises in Arkansas<\/b>‘ primaries Tuesday, though there was yet another Special Election triumph for Democrats there yesterday, with another “blue” to “red” flip in the state House, as the Democratic candidate won<\/a> by some 60 points! <\/p>\n

In North Carolina<\/b>, Dems got the U.S. Senate candidate they were looking for in popular former Governor Roy Cooper<\/b>, who is now set to square off against Trump-endorsed, election denying former RNC Chair Michael Whatley<\/b>. Neither primary was particularly competitive on Tuesday, though some 200,000 more voters turned out for the D contest than for the R race. Make of that what you will. The November election will be to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis<\/b>, in what is perhaps this year’s best opportunity for Dems<\/a> to flip a Republican Senate seat.<\/p>\n

After some late Primary Night chicanery<\/a> by Texas<\/b>‘ sleazeball Attorney General (and Republican U.S. Senate candidate) Ken Paxton<\/b> in Dallas County, it appears the Democratic Party got much of what they wanted out of yesterday’s contests for the U.S. Senate. Popular Democratic state Rep. James Talarico<\/b> defeated<\/a> progressive firebrand Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett<\/b> by just a few points. But it was enough to win the Dem Senate nomination outright without heading to a runoff. Crockett gracefully conceded<\/a> and called for party unity on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On the other side, four-term senior Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn<\/b> has been forced into<\/a> a weeks long, very expensive, and likely brutally ugly runoff with Trump’s wildly corrupt pal Paxton for this year’s Republican nomination. Dems couldn’t ask for anything more out of the Lone Star race at the moment. Runoff day is May 26. You’ll need plenty of popcorn between now and then.<\/p>\n

There is quite a bit more that we cover on this beat on today’s program, from a number of interesting U.S. House primaries and the ousting<\/a> of three GOP-friendly state House members by three progressive candidates in NC, to a fascinating contest between two very MAGA candidates in the same state, including a very<\/i> powerful one endorsed by Trump, in a race where the current margin stands at just two votes<\/a>! <\/p>\n

Please tune on in!…<\/p>\n

THEN…<\/i> Back to the War in Iran<\/b>, which continues to spread throughout the Gulf region and beyond, as it becomes clearer by the day that the Trump Administration had no clear objectives<\/a> when launching the war, and even less of a clue how to get out of it, at this point. <\/p>\n

We’re joined to discuss a whole bunch of related matters by Professor JUAN COLE<\/b>, longtime historian, author and Middle East expert at the University of Michigan. He is also founder and chief editor<\/a> of the indispensable, long-running Informed Comment<\/a> blog. <\/p>\n

I’ve got a ton of questions for Professor Cole today. Among them, we discuss…<\/p>\n