Of course the boss has taken a great interest in this race since he lives in the area and knows Tom Price so well. I've taken only a passing interest in it, as much because of the creep factor evident in Democrat Jon Ossoff as anything else. If Ossoff manages to somehow grab Price's old congressional seat in a district that Romney won by 23 points in 2012, but that Trump won by only 1 point in 2016, you know perfectly well what the media narrative will be.
Overwhelmingly Republican district rebukes Trump!
Fresh Democrat face set to lead national resurgence!
Running in a free-for-all election that featured 12 Republicans vying for GOP voters, Ossoff won 48.5 percent of the vote. He did better than Hillary did in the same district in November, but not well enough to avoid a June 20 runoff against former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who was a distant second with less than 20 percent.
Much has been made of the fact that Ossoff raised a lot of money from outside the district - more than $8 million from Beltway types and Hollywood liberals. The fact that he raised all that money and still fell short of the 50 percent threshold that would have given him an outright win is being portrayed as an omen of his inevitable failure.
But is it?
It was a near-miss for Democrats in Georgia's 6th Congressional District — and President Donald Trump was crowing about the opposition party falling short.
Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker who shattered fundraising records, finished well ahead of his challengers — but came just shy of the 50% threshold necessary to win the closely watched race outright, according to the Associated Press, which called the race just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Ossoff, who finished with about 48%, will now head to a runoff on June 20 against Republican Karen Handel, the former Georgia Secretary of State, who bested 10 other GOP hopefuls with about 20% of the overall vote in the unusual all-party primary.
In a tweet Wednesday, Trump said the race was now "Hollywood vs. Georgia" — an apparent reference to Samuel L. Jackson, who made a radio ad supporting Ossoff, and other stars who are backing the Democrat.
In his speech to supporters Tuesday night, Ossoff called his first-place finish an odds-defying "victory for the ages."
"There is no doubt that this is already a victory for the ages," the Democrat said at his election-night party. "We fight on, we have defied the odds. We have shattered expectations."
Uh . . . not exactly. Expectations were that he might actually top 50 percent given the unusual nature of the special election, the availability of so much money and the fractured nature of the Republican field. Running in a one-on-one race against Karen Handel, who is well known to Georgians and has a long-time public service record, will be another story entirely.
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Even so, Ossoff only has to pick up another 2 percentage points over his April showing to win in June. Could that happen? You can't discount the possibility given how close he came last night, although you also have to remember that different voters may well turn out in June. I would expect Handel to run a more professional, disciplined and focused race than the field of 12 Ossoff faced last night, and that will make it harder for Ossoff to focus on Trump when he has a real live Republican opponent making the case for herself.
I think Republicans need to guard against overconfidence in this race. The sheer numbers Ossoff pulled last night suggest a win in June is plausible for him. A well-run campaign by Handel should allow her to prevail, but I see very little margin for error, and errors are always part of the equation.
That said, if you'll allow a strictly personal observation here: Ossoff has about the creepiest vibe I've ever seen. Some of you can discern these things and some of you can't but watch this:
Maybe not everyone can see it. If you can, you saw it instantly.
By the way, Ossoff does not live in GA-6. He explains that this is because he has to live with his "girlfriend of 12 years" while she is in school in another district, but it's fine because he grew up there and he'll come back.
Hmm. Dude is 30. Girlfriend of 12 years?
Have fun voting, GA-6!
