Mark Halperin

He's, even though he's the United States Senator, he's got the, the, the, the feel of an outsider because he's, uh, he's, uh, he's, he's young and, and, and not, you know, been on the stage for a long time.

And he's got a very loyal, very skillful team around him.

They really believe in him.

All of those are ingredients for, uh, somebody who could run for president in 2020 in this wide open democratic field.

Young, energetic, serious, idealistic, very likable, understands politics and organizing, understands rhetoric.

But put aside whether John Ossoff might run for president in 2028, and certainly he's got to get reelected in Georgia this year.

And even though he's ahead in the polls right now and against a crowded Republican primary, three guys running to face off against him, you can't take it for granted.

It's going to be a tough race.

Any Democrat winning statewide in the South, even an incumbent, is going to be tough.

So leave aside the question of whether Ossoff could be a presidential or vice presidential candidate anytime soon and focus on this question.

Why did Republicans look at that speech?

and say, wow, that was well written, well delivered.

And why do Democrats say this speech is a template?

So I talked to a bunch of folks this week.

Here's what they told me.

First of all, Ossoff understands that the table stakes for being someone who inspires the base of the Democratic Party is you got to take on Donald Trump and you got to be on the news and you got to be aggressive and you have to

speak in a plain way about calling him out.

Gavin Newsom has been the leader in this for the Democrats on X, going right hard at the president.

So here's Ossoff on that.

Table stakes, tough on Trump, talking about that social media post the president did that had a depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, as apes.