GOP faces hurdles in push to make Afghanistan matter in the midterms

House Republicans hope to ride Joe Biden’s messy Afghanistan withdrawal to victory in the midterms. It won't be that easy.

With the GOP already in a strong position to retake the House next year, the president's first major foreign-policy crisis could give the party an additional boost as it tries to chip away at his popularity. But several factors threaten to undermine Republican efforts to make Biden’s blunder stick — the most powerful being the nearly 15 months between now and the next election.

Absent an all-consuming global conflagration, voters...