CNN is already trying to anoint its next Democratic darling, and according to one of its analysts, the future might just belong to Jon Ossoff.
During a recent broadcast, analyst Harry Enten speculated that the Democratic nominee in 2028 could very well be the senator from Georgia.
With enthusiasm that only network pundits can muster for a fresh face from the left, Enten declared that the coming years could be “Ossoff’s America.”
Enten pointed to prediction markets and claimed a sudden surge in Ossoff’s popularity. At the beginning of the year, he noted, California Governor Gavin Newsom was leading the pack with a 35 percent chance of securing the Democratic nomination.
Ossoff was barely a blip with a modest five percent chance, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was sitting at ten percent.
Fast forward to now, and Newsom’s numbers have dipped to 18 percent while Ossoff’s odds have tripled to 16 percent, making him the hottest ticket in what Enten affectionately called “Hotlanta.”
That is quite the growth spurt for a senator whose national name recognition doesn’t reach much beyond his own state line.
Yet in the minds of CNN producers desperate for a storyline beyond the Biden family saga, Ossoff’s rise must look like a savior narrative tailor made for primetime chatter.
Enten also pointed to a metric he seemed genuinely excited about: Google searches for Ossoff, which he said were up 300 percent over last July.
“That perhaps isn’t so surprising given, of course, he is running for reelection,” Enten admitted, “but I will note it’s the most ever for him in a July. So it’s not just interest within Georgia. It is interest in Jon Ossoff nationally.”
So, the logic is simple: Google searches now count as political capital.
The CNN analyst also bragged on Ossoff’s fundraising numbers, pointing out his $77 million campaign haul, the largest war chest for any Senate campaign this century.
That undoubtedly grabs attention in the Democratic machine where financial muscle is often treated as a measure of worthiness rather than ideas or results.
A Fox News poll conducted in June put Ossoff’s favorability rating at 58 percent among registered Georgia voters.
That is not insignificant, though not exactly a coronation. For comparison, most freshmen senators would be thrilled to hit such a number midway through a term.
For CNN, however, it was enough to daydream about bumper stickers.
Ossoff’s apparent appeal rests heavily on his image of youthful freshness and lack of scandal, at least publicly.
Enten noted that Ossoff hasn’t been tied to any major controversies so far.
But anyone who has watched Washington for more than a week knows that spotless records have a way of getting messy once national spotlights turn on.
The more exposure, the more skeletons tend to emerge.
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The Georgia senator also brings with him the standard-issue Democratic platform on immigration, complete with calls for a broad path to citizenship for illegal aliens.
That might play well with CNN’s audience but not with middle America, where border chaos is not seen as an academic policy discussion but a very real threat to safety and resources.
Outside of Georgia, Ossoff still maintains a relatively mild national profile, certainly less headline-grabbing than Newsom, who over the past few years has tried hard to transform himself into a national player.
Unlike Newsom, who loves the cameras and is reportedly laying groundwork for a 2028 bid, Ossoff insists he is focused solely on his reelection race.
Of course, we have heard that line before from many politicians who later found themselves on debate stages with bright lights.
Even if Ossoff’s numbers continue their modest climb, the Democratic bench for 2028 remains uncertain at best.
After years of being tied to a geriatric White House and internal party fractures between progressives and traditional liberals, the left is desperately searching for a shiny new face to rally around.
CNN’s sudden infatuation with a senator who owes much of his rise to celebrity-style fundraising suggests the media arm of the party is already testing out marketing slogans.
It is easy to see why they would.
With Harris polling worse than expired yogurt, Democrats are craving someone who looks electable on paper, even if few outside Atlanta can name one major legislative achievement from him.
Ossoff is polished, well spoken, and carries himself in the self-serious style that liberal pundits love to label as “presidential.”
But whether that will translate into actual voter enthusiasm is an entirely different question.
Republicans see another hopeful who will talk big on social justice, promise to expand government spending, and deliver the same tired policies that have already failed urban America.
CNN’s fascination with Jon Ossoff is more revealing for what it says about the network’s political strategy than about Ossoff himself.
The liberal media’s habit of constructing their next champion years before the race even begins is a sign of both panic and preparation.
If 2028 is going to be “Ossoff’s America,” as Enten declared, conservatives can take comfort in knowing one thing: a nation modeled after CNN’s fantasies has never existed anywhere outside their studio greenrooms.
