Barack Obama has appeared to be enjoying himself in recent days, taking to the stage as the midterm election campaigns entered their final stretch.
He has poked fun at Donald Trump’s White House decorations and laughed at what he described as the response of the “whole government.” Across the Midwest, Obama worked the crowds in Michigan and Ohio, mixing political arguments with his familiar one-liners.
But his remarks in Georgia may have carried the greatest political significance.
Jon Ossoff, seeking re-election to the Senate, was the “only common-sense choice in this race,” declared the still hugely popular former president.
Voters appeared to agree. On Tuesday night, Ossoff secured an easy re-election victory, with the independent election-results monitor Decision Desk projecting his win just 18 minutes after polls closed.
CNN political analyst Kasie Hunt announced: “Tonight is Day One of Jon Ossoff’s presidential campaign.”
Obama, it seems, may share that view.
At the October 28 rally, he offered a series of comments that are likely to be closely examined: “And it’s not just because he’s so put-together. It’s not because he looks like a Kennedy, all handsome in the videos.
“It’s because he learned from his mentor, and my mentor — one of the greats, John Lewis — what it means to stir up some good trouble. That’s what he’s been doing on your behalf.”
Sharing a mentor with the former president is notable enough. So is the influence of one of America’s most important civil rights leaders. Add Ossoff’s resemblance to a Kennedy, and the attention becomes even more intense. Social media accounts have emerged to celebrate what fans describe as his increasingly “jacked” physique. Derek Guy, known for his commentary on men’s tailoring, has also pointed to the unusual fit of Ossoff’s trousers, suggesting that his “backside is larger and rounder than… most brands account for.”
Whatever the focus on appearance, if Ossoff was looking beyond his re-election campaign toward the 2028 presidential race, Obama’s endorsement would be difficult to imagine as a better political gift.
By Tuesday night, the online prediction market Kalshi had Ossoff edging ahead of California Governor Gavin Newsom in the 2028 presidential field. Kalshi gave Ossoff an 18 percent chance of winning the presidency, compared with 14 percent for Newsom. Vice President JD Vance remained the favorite, narrowly leading with a 20 percent chance.
If Jon Ossoff was looking beyond Tuesday’s midterm vote toward the 2028 presidential election, he could hardly have hoped for a more valuable gift from Obama
Obama called Ossoff, who was running for Senate re-election, the “only common-sense choice in this race”
Of course, Ossoff, who turns 40 in February, knows better than to embrace speculation about 2028 at this stage.
In April, the father of two young daughters said he had “zero interest in running for president in 2028.” He warned that engaging in “fantasy football” about the next presidential election risked distracting from the issues demanding attention now.
The question resurfaced on October 13 during an Atlanta Press Club debate, when Ossoff was asked whether he would commit to serving a full six-year Senate term if re-elected.
“Yes, I will,” he replied. “I have zero interest in running for president.”
Even so, many observers note that other politicians have made similar declarations before — including the man standing beside Ossoff on October 28.
In January 2006, when he was an Illinois senator, Obama was asked whether he could commit to serving a full six-year term. He said that he could.
‘So, you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?’ the NBC moderator asked.
Obama answered: ‘I will not.’ He announced his candidacy the following year.
The comparisons for Ossoff’s supporters do not end there.
Youthful and energetic, Ossoff is also a relative newcomer to the Senate – he was first elected in 2021. Obama was elected to represent Illinois in 2004.
There is their oratory and their social media savvy – Ossoff was a documentary maker before running for office.
Ossoff gained hours of airtime by goading Donald Trump about his close aide Natalie Harp, a woman perennially by the president’s side. Referencing the Qatari presidential plane debacle, Ossoff said in August that Trump would rather ‘build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace’ than do his job.
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The White House was livid: Ossoff’s team jubilant.
There is substance to the style, too. Ossoff and Obama share many of the same priorities.
Obama told the feverishly excited crowd in the southern Atlanta suburbs that Ossoff had ‘exposed the abuse of Georgia’s foster kids, passed the law forcing tech companies to crack down on child predators, took on the drug companies, capped the price of insulin for seniors.’
Social media accounts have been devoted to the appreciation of, what many fans have noted, Ossoff’s increasingly ‘jacked’ physique
Derek Guy, known for his comments on male tailoring, has noted a peculiar tendency for Ossoff’s pants to be tight on his buttocks, leading to speculation that ‘his backside is larger and rounder than… most brands account for.’
Youthful and energetic, Ossoff is also a relative newcomer to the Senate – he was first elected in 2021.
He added that a re-elected Ossoff would ‘fight to ban health insurance companies from denying coverage that patients need. And he’s going to repeal the tariffs that have sent prices of groceries soaring. He knows we never should have started this unnecessary war in Iran. And he will fight to end it. And he is going fight for stronger voting rights protections to make sure that every single citizen has a vote, and every vote is counted here in Georgia and across the United States of America.’
And it’s not just Obama who rates Ossoff’s chances, in a currently wide-open Democrat field.
Respected pollster Nate Silver told Puck’s The Powers That Be podcast this week that he felt Ossoff was a strong potential 2028 contender, describing the Atlanta-born politician as his ‘number one horse’ in a 2028 primary draft.
‘I had Jon Ossoff as my first pick, and I would have taken Ossoff first,’ said Silver.
‘It would be surprising if he didn’t cruise to re-election by a high single digit, low double-digit margin. Uniting these different factions.’
Silver added that Ossoff’s position as a moderate made him even more valuable to Democrats given their emerging strength in previous Republican strongholds. Ossoff’s team notes in campaign material that he is ‘the only Democratic US Senator up for re-election in a state Trump won.’
Progressives such as New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attract fervent support, but their appeal is far narrower in a nationwide poll.
‘The expansion of the electoral map into these more red states, where there are mostly moderate Democrats running, has potentially taken a bit of the wind out of the sails of the more progressive Democrats,’ said Silver. ‘I think AOC is a talented politician, but it’s obviously in a lane.’
Yet Ossoff knows he faces headwinds.
He made history as the first Jewish Senator from the deep south since 1878, but his faith may still be an impediment for some. Ossoff has condemned Israel for breaking international law in Gaza, but stopped short of calling the government’s actions a genocide – angering both sides in the process.
His Republican opponent for the Senate, Mike Collins, who has raised a mere $10 million in donations, to Ossoff’s $120 million, called Ossoff a ‘radical’ and a ‘trust fund kid who’s never had a job in his life.’
Ossoff inherited a substantial sum – he refuses to say how much – from his grandfather, who was co-owner of a Massachusetts leather factory.
His Republican opponent for the Senate, Mike Collins, has raised a mere $10 million in donations to Ossoff’s $120 million
Collins called Ossoff a ‘radical’ and a ‘trust fund kid who’s never had a job in his life’
In 2020, making his first run for the Senate, he told The Washington Post: ‘I openly acknowledge that the opportunity I’ve had is a function of my parents’ hard work: the opportunity to get a great education without debt, the opportunity to do what I love and pursue my passion, which is confronting and exposing injustice and the abuse of power.’
The paper reported that Ossoff’s financial disclosure form, filed as a Senate candidate, said his net worth was between $2.3 million and $8.8 million, including the value of his documentary company, which he put at between $1 million and $5 million.
Perhaps, in the age of Donald Trump, that no longer raises an eyebrow.
Ossoff, however, is determined to have nothing to do with what he terms the ‘Epstein Class’ – his age and distance from power centers certainly gives him a clean slate there.
He cannot fail to appreciate Obama’s comparing him to Kennedy and it’s tempting to think that the noticeably more buff Ossoff has more of an eye on the optics than he claims.
On Tuesday night, his campaign hosted a watch party on YouTube, live from Atlanta and witnessed, perhaps, not just a victory but a coronation.