Ukraine in my opinion does not rise to Iraq/Afghanistan mid-00s, probably due to no U.S. troops are deployed there. Foreign policy in general unless the U.S. is in a hot war has never really been a vote getter.
Voters will care more about Israel/Gaza both for and against each side than they will Russia/Ukraine. Not stating I agree with that personally as far as what is more important, I'm telling you what the truth is. There's no Ukrainian version of AIPAC running around and seeking to eliminate "hostile" Congressmen.
Frankly the Chinese have always scared me as far as their threat to this country more than the Russians have. The Russians are only a threat to the continental United States militarily and it's not like our military can't handle them. The Chinese have a military like the Russians do but are a threat to us economically which is a form of war that does not require bullets. The Chinese have violated major trade laws and closed major businesses here and put thousands of people out of work intentionally. And both major political parties were gung-ho with all this supporting the Chinese through the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations...because Western corporations could get dirt-cheap sourcing I guess.
Biden now essentially apes Trump's viewpoint on China are an enemy, not a friend, and that viewpoint was vindicated by Covid and Hong Kong as a separate legal entity has now de facto disappeared. Biden's and Trump's views on Russia could not be more different of course, but there's a great underlying battle going on at a State Department/Defense Department level of do we shift to focus everything on China and the Indo-Pacific, leaving Europe to do its own defense; or do we get drawn back into Europe to protect it from Russia as well as having to worry about China. That's a classic two-front war as far as defense posture and focus. And there's a valid argument out there that any focus on Russia makes us weaker against China which is who we should be foremost concerned about both militarily and economically (Economically, I'm an engineer that has dealt with Chinese engineers multiple times in the past, I have plenty of anecdotal examples from my time working.) So if we're going to have a two front war as the Democratic Party zeitgeist of the moment is (probably supported by some Republicans), allright then, are we increasing defense and military spending to account for this? I think you have to.
That's not a conversation Americans will be having as they go to the ballot box.
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