For the past month, one name has dominated discussions of the 2028 Democratic primary: Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Though Ossoff is running for reelection in a crucial swing state, his consistent polling lead is prompting national observers to leapfrog all the way to 2028. Features in both the New York Times and Politico have touted him as a leading candidate. His odds on the Polymarket prediction site have more than doubled since late May: he’s now given a better chance than Vice President Kamala Harris (who is currently the leader in nearly all national polls).
There are good reasons for this. Ossoff is a repeat winner in one of the most important presidential battlegrounds who appeals to everyone from the Never Trumpers at the Bulwark to leftist streamer Hasan Piker. His rhetorical focus on Trump’s corruption elevates a theme that energizes Democrats of all stripes. And his background as a filmmaker makes him almost uniquely well-suited to the short-form video age.
“I have been jokingly calling him…the Lisan al-Gaib, which is a Dune reference to the Timothée Chalamet figure — essentially, the chosen one,” Chris Hayes, the MSNBC host, said on a recent episode of The Ezra Klein Show. “I think he has figured out a way, in a broadly palatable ideological fashion, to leverage a populist moral critique of the rot of Trump that can appeal across the different Democratic factions.”
Before we go any further, let’s get one important caveat out of the way: Ossoff might not run. He has steadfastly denied rumors of presidential ambition, saying he’s focused on the Senate.
But should he run, there are considerable reasons why so many Democrats believe he’s poised to take off in 2028. Ossoff is a proven winner in the swing state, an excellent public speaker, a telegenic young guy with an inspiring and unifying message: he’s basically the stuff that Democrats dream of. It makes sense that pundits and bettors would anticipate a boom even before it emerges among voters; the raw material is all there.
What’s especially impressive is his ability to straddle the party’s internal divides without making enemies.
His vote to block military aid to Israel in 2024, when that position was less common among Democrats, endeared him to the left. The party’s centrist faction admires his vote for the Laken Riley Act imposing harsher punishments on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. And he managed to avoid taking hardline stances on social issues that many Democrats took during Trump’s first term — the ones that left Kamala Harris with a trail of quotes and positions for Republicans to attack in 2024 — without alienating liberals.
“He not only refused to join along with the craziness of 2017 to 2020, but actively explicitly rejected it without becoming defined by the negative,” said Liam Kerr, co-founder of the centrist WelcomePAC.
Ossoff’s multifaceted appeal makes even more sense when you look at the emerging field. Across poll averages, the top four candidates are consistent: Harris on top, California Gov. Gavin Newsom in second, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg battling it out for third.
Each of those candidates has a major strike against them with at least some important corner of the party. Buttigieg is unpopular on the socialist left and has long polled poorly with Black voters. AOC is hated by Democratic centrists and will need to convince electability-minded voters that she can appeal to the center. Gavin Newsom is seen by many as oily, insincere, and a traitor on trans rights. Kamala Harris, of course, carries enormous baggage both from Biden’s presidency and her own unsuccessful presidential runs.
In a party looking to move beyond its Trump-era doldrums, many see these choices as either uninspiring or divisive. There is a deep hunger for someone new. Ossoff, who is less weighed down by prior party debates, can fill that need.
And yet, there’s some reason to think this hype is getting over its skis.
Ossoff is a certain kind of archetype who often emerges in divided parties: The mythical “unity candidate.”
These figures are typically broadly appealing elected officials without any one defined base of supporters. They have traits that seem to correct for the party’s failures in the previous election, have qualities that can attract fans from a wide range of factions and demographics within it, and they have yet to alienate anybody important. But the “unity candidate” has a mixed record in recent contests — they often look perfect on paper, then struggle in practice.
Read Zack’s full story here.
