With Harris leading in Early 2028 polls…A Turn to Jon Ossoff?

Ossoff, 39, embodies the sort of articulate, next-generation candidate — straddling the ideological divide and wielding a mix of outsider and insider credentials — that encompasses the model with which Democrats historically win. And Warnock, 56, would be the pastor-healer who could unify a fractious party and help cleanse a country crying out for a purge.

Each also benefits by comparison to the last two presidents — which is a nicer way of saying it has been a decade since the country had a leader who could leverage the bully pulpit by speaking coherently.

Neither senator is aggressively positioning themselves to run, at least not in the unsubtle fashion of some of their Democratic contemporaries. But both are making the most of that most precious gift in politics: timing.

Ossoff’s seat just happens to be up this year — the election cycle before the presidential election — and that re-election bid has become the vehicle by which he’s becoming a sensation in his party. Capitalizing on the dominant medium of the era, Ossoff has harnessed short-form videos criticizing Trump from his campaign rallies to immediately reach the social media feeds of millions of Democrats, who with each click prompt the algorithm to feed them more of his footage.

This sort of political compound interest has inundated the Democrat with cash: Ossoff has already raised over $57 million for his reelection, by far the most of any Senate incumbent. The clip-industrial complex has also delivered a more passive income stream, as it were, namely growing Ossoff for President buzz from Democrats who don’t know much about him but sure do like what they see in those videos.

“Just in the last few months with donors and activists, you hear his name come up,” David Plouffe, the Democratic strategist, told me. “And it’s because of these videos. Most have never met him, and most have never even watched a full speech. But these clips have made him a credible presidential candidate.”….

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Now, before going further, a cautionary note on both would-be 2028 candidates. Ossoff, who has young children, has disclaimed interest in running for president. Of course, the early national speculation does him no favors when he’s attempting to win reelection in a difficult state for Democrats, even in favorable years, and when Republicans would love to portray him as a national liberal favorite. He’d also be, to state the obvious, a lot less appealing as nominee or running mate if he was to lose his reelection campaign this fall…..

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The Ossoff buzz has taken off far faster than even Obama’s rise, which may have felt like overnight at the time but was glacial by today’s standards. The Georgia senator hasn’t had one nationally watched breakout speech, hasn’t written a best-selling memoir and certainly hasn’t had to hit the Democratic dinner circuit, as Obama did…

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