Jon Ossoff is Doing Something Different

Elaine Godfrey, writing in The Atlantic, has a smart profile/examination of the Jon Ossoff moment.

Some Democrats are predicting—or perhaps manifesting—that if he wins in November, Ossoff will turn immediately toward a bigger project: running for president in 2028. Ossoff has repeatedly denied that he is interested in doing this. If he won, he’d have to give up his hard-fought Senate seat, which, if Georgia elects a Republican governor this year, would be politically perilous for Democrats. Ossoff, who has two daughters under the age of 5, is also very protective of his family life.

But national Democrats don’t care much about these caveats, and many consultants can’t wait to draft him into the 2028 race—although none wanted to engage in such speculation on the record. One referred to him as an “S-tier” presidential candidate. On the prediction-market platform Kalshi, Ossoff’s odds of winning the 2028 nomination are higher than any Democrat’s.

Here’s my prediction: if Georgia elects a Democratic governor, Jon Ossoff runs for president. If not, he waits and positions himself later in the cycle.

If he does run, I think he wins the nomination. Outside of Obama and Buttigieg, he’s the best speaker the Democrats have. He’s photogenic, disciplined on the mic, and he reads this political moment better than almost anyone in the party.

Pete Buttigieg will run too, but I don’t see the presidency in his future. Where I do see him is as chief of staff to the next Democratic president. He’d be the best one we’ve had in a long time.

Gavin Newsom will also throw his hat in the ring, and he’s worth watching. He’s tall, he’s polished, and he ran the largest economy in the country. He may be a tough sell in the primary, but I wouldn’t count him out.

I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez runs this cycle. Her smarter move is the Senate. And frankly, I don’t think Democrats are going to nominate a woman this time.

Speaking of which: Kamala Harris should already be president. Biden should have stepped down after guiding the country through COVID. He didn’t. I doubt she’d take it, but she’d make a fantastic attorney general. Or maybe a Supreme Court nomination is in her future.