U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff at Elizabeth Baptist Church:
"I address the political and moral crisis that we face this moment."
The clip is seven minutes long. Take a moment to see the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE1_bJNH_Gs
I think America is at a turning point. We have passed the moment of "peak Trump." Americans, Republicans included, recognize that Trump's open corruption is dangerous and morally wrong. We are better than that. I don't expect voters to seek a pious Jimmy Carter, but I think Americans are ready for some hand-washing, some sign that the venality and crudeness of Trump and his crowd of billionaires and flatterers should not become the new normal.
Trump is a flamboyant anti-hero. He is the professional wrestling "heel." He is Tony Soprano. He is Walter White. He is fascinating, but he is not good at governing and he doesn't inspire confidence. Americans think the country is on the wrong track.
Maybe it is as simple as his time being up. Public tastes oscillate. He has had 10 years on center stage, and we are tiring of his schtick, and his corruption is indefensible, even for people who like that he closed the borders. I see signs of it, even among Republicans. A percentage of them are willing to be not-Trump, without daring to opposeTrump. They want distance, even if they dare not say it directly.
Ossoff is probing that ground where the swing voters are, the people who swung to Trump in 2024 and now don't like what they see. Some of the critique is economic: It's the economy, stupid. But it is also a matter of character.
A Democratic politician needs to be able to inspire Black voters without estranging White ones. A Jewish politician needs to be able to carry his identity comfortably without estranging Christians. I think Ossoff pulls this off.
A candidate for the U.S. Senate talks about state issues and what he has done for his state. A presidential candidate talks about the character of a nation, its purpose and destiny. Ossoff looks like a serious man in a serious role.
Meanwhile, Trump looks petty and vindictive, lashing out at Canada, renaming Lake Ontario, tweeting insults, starting trade wars, trying to manipulate beef prices, messing with elections. Republican voters might ignore his character if he were doing a great job with the economy and keeping us out of war, thinking that it takes a corrupt man to lead in a corrupt world, but he cannot hide inflation and the mess he has made of our war with Iran. Americans have given an anti-hero president a chance, and they are ready for something new.
Jon Ossoff is the real thing, and the timing looks about right for him.
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8 comments:
Under Trump, Americans learned what it’s like to have no morals, values or guiding principles other than greed. He brought out the worst in us. Many enjoyed it and even came back for more. What a basket of deplorables! But now it’s dawning on the majority how much this degeneracy is costing us. Hopefully we’ll soon see the misogyny, racism, anger, hatred and corruption normalized by this administration forced to crawl back under their rocks.
Title of news article: “How democrats are preparing for Trump election interference.” It’s just assumed Trump with little Republican opposition will attempt to steal the election. Most Americans think that is wrong. Yes Trump is getting very tiresome for 2/3 of the country and the third that likes him doesn’t really, it’s just that they don’t want to admit what a disaster he is.
With any luck, after November the Democrats take the majority in the House and Senate. Then he really becomes a Lame Duck President. The Dems stop him as much as they can and line up a strong candidate to run in 2028. That's the dream. He might even get impeached again and have to go to a Senate trial. Made for TV. Like Watergate. Everyone glued to their sets. He might even resign like Nixon did. Still dreaming.
I listened to a soy bean farmer hurt very badly by this administration say it out loud that there are MAGA rationizers saying "Oh he's OK. Sure you have a few thinkgs you don't like, but what president, in the past, has done everything you like? Right! So what does it matter if it's a Democrat, Rebulican, Independent, or whatever? They're all the same."
"A Jewish politician needs to be able to carry his identity comfortably without estranging Christians".
As I see it, Jon Ossoff's identity will not be a problem nationally for Christians, black or otherwise. It wasn't in Georgia, anyway. Rather, his Jewish identity on its face may estrange the new so-called "progressive" wing of his own party, which is far more in the ascendancy today than when Kamala Harris ruled out Josh Shapiro for Veep in 2024 for similar reasons.
Moreover, it's my understanding that the reliable core of Democratic Socialist and Democratic Socialist-adjacent voters is white-collar whites, with blue-collar and black voters overall preferring establishment Democrats. Ossoff had best look first to his own house when it comes to 2028. Is he deft enough to placate identitarian Hamas apologists?
I just listened to the speech. Very (early) 20th century oratory, delivered without a whole lot of charisma. Maybe that was the right mode for what I assume was the (black?) church he was speaking in. But I think that in 2026, politicians are going to need to be more entertaining and able to get their points across quicker than what I saw in this speech.
Most progressives are capable of distinguishing between Likud and Jews, just as we do between Hamas and Palestinians. I'd be surprised if many Democrats disagree with what Senator Ossoff said about it a few years ago: “I fervently want Israel to succeed, both in defeating the threat posed by Hamas, and as a historic effort to secure a safe homeland for Jews. But I do not accept that the total deprivation of millions of innocent civilians is necessary for Israel to secure its objectives, or in the national interest of the United States.”
MT- interesting. I wonder if we’re collectively tired of being “entertained”? His oratory skills work for me. He’s clear, and concise, and his cadence and pauses are perfect, like a preacher. He’s the perfect antidote for the rambling incoherent word-salad Trump. Ossoff lets things sink in and then continues the momentum. Connecting the biblical prophet Amos’s critique of the wealthy to Mar-a-Lago got just the right amount of chuckles. Right speech to the right audience.
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