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Democrats’ ‘New Obama’ Gets Huge Boost From the OG

Barack Obama has thrown his support behind a Democratic rising star who many compare to him.

Former President Barack Obama has thrown his weight behind the Georgia Senate race.

In a video message, Obama said he backed Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, the Democratic incumbent, in the race against Republican Mike Collins, who has received President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

“By voting for Jon Ossoff, we have the chance to protect voting rights, stand up for Civil Rights, and help build an economy that works for everyone,” Obama said in an Ossoff ad.

The 60-second radio ad aired Thursday, and a 30-second video version is planned for other platforms in the coming days, Ossoff’s campaign said.

Ossoff flipped the seat in 2021 and is now a top 2028 presidential contender for Democrats. Many have even compared Ossoff’s oratory skills and youthful energy to Obama’s ahead of his 2008 presidential victory.

The New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein had pointed out that his campaign material and his public appearances utilize a “visual grammar,” like three-quarter upward angles and a controlled presence, that is very reminiscent of Obama in his campaign heyday.

Politico’s senior political columnist Jonathan Martin has even said that “O” signs at Ossoff’s events “could’ve been recycled from the Obama collection.”

Ossoff routinely goes after Trump during his campaign rallies.

He caught the White House’s ire after calling out Trump’s close relationship with his most adoring aide, 35-year-old Natalie Harp, after suggesting the president was more focused on “travel with Natalie” than his duties.

Trump, who regularly gives his perceived political enemies juvenile nicknames, has tried to brand Ossoff “Pee-wee Herman,” but the insult has yet to stick.

Polling generally suggests Ossoff is in a much better position than his opponent. Ossoff even led Collins by seven points in a survey Republican pollster Trafalgar Group conducted this month.

The polling for Republicans has gotten so disastrous that some GOP operatives are considering pulling spending on Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina.

It also doesn’t help that Collins has been mired in controversies and scandals, including his campaign staffers having ties to Nazi and KKK groups, and his son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, who has routinely shared antisemitic material and Nazi imagery in comments across the internet.

One GOP strategist told MS NOW earlier this year: “If you went to a laboratory and tried to create the worst general election candidate for this state and environment possible, you couldn’t do better than Mike Collins.”

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Annabella RosciglioneReporter

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