Barack Obama had been enjoying himself these last few days, taking the stage as the midterm races reached their finales.
He's joked about Donald Trump's decorations at the White House and chuckled at the 'whole government' response. He rallied across the Midwest, wisecracking through appearances in Michigan and Ohio.
But it was in Georgia that his words have carried perhaps the most weight.
Jon Ossoff, running for re-election to the Senate, was the 'only common-sense choice in this race,' said the still-wildly-popular former president.
The electorate seemed to agree. On Tuesday night, Ossoff was easily re-elected, with independent election results monitor Decision Desk first projecting an Ossoff victory a mere 18 minutes after the polls had closed.
Kasie Hunt, a CNN political analyst, declared: 'Tonight is Day One of Jon Ossoff's presidential campaign.'
And Obama appears to agree.
He added at that October 28 rally, in comments likely to be keenly noted: '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 the same mentor as the former president? Add to that the wisdom of one of America's greatest Civil Rights leaders? Looking like a Kennedy? Indeed, 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.'
Vanity aside, if Ossoff was looking to the future – beyond this re-election, to the 2028 election – he could hardly have dreamed of a better gift than Obama's endorsement.
On Tuesday night, the online prediction market Kalshi had Ossoff already racing ahead of Gavin Newsom, the California governor, giving him an 18 percent chance of winning the presidency in 2028 to Newsom's 14 percent. Vice President JD Vance was still the frontrunner at a close 20 percent.
If Jon Ossoff was looking to the future - beyond Tuesday's midterm vote, to the 2028 election - he could hardly have dreamed of a better gift from Obama
Ossoff, running for re-election to the Senate, is the 'only common-sense choice in this race,' said Obama
Of course, Ossoff, who turns 40 in February, knows better than to lean into talk of 2028 just yet.
In April, the father of two young daughters insisted he had 'zero interest in running for president in 2028,' saying that playing 'fantasy football' ahead of the next presidential election was a dangerous distraction from the issues at hand.
On October 13, he was asked the question again at an Atlanta Press Club debate, with the query about whether he would commit to a full six-year term if re-elected.
'Yes, I will,' he said. 'I have zero interest in running for president.'
And yet many note that others have said the same before him – most notably that man beside him on October 28.
In January 2006, then an Illinois senator, Obama was asked whether he could commit to a full six-year term and said 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.
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.
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