Not A Winner—But A Wake-Up Call

(Ossoff during an interview with CNN)

Win or lose, Democrat Jon Ossoff has delivered on his campaign slogan, "Make Trump Furious."

The 30-year-old is leading a crowded field in a Republican-controlled Georgia district to replace Rep. Tom Price, who left office to serve as Trump’s health and human services secretary.

Ossoff has come out of nowhere to give the 17 Republicans in the race a run for their money in the conservative-leaning 6th District. Although he’s leading the field, he’d need to get 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff against whoever finishes second to him in the primary.

After Republicans barely held onto another “safe” seat in Kansas last week, the two elections have been giving the GOP chills as observers are labeling the contests an early referendum on Trump’s popularity.

One other person taking note: Trump himself.

The commander in chief has tweeted three times already on Tuesday about the election, taking personal shots at the documentary filmmaker:

Surely part of what’s making Trump furious, aside from the closeness of the election itself, is the fact that a number of celebrities, including Samuel L. Jackson and Debra Messing, have leant their support to Ossoff’s campaign.

Trump also recorded a message for Republican voters, urging them to get out to the polls.

Republicans, including Trump, have been targeting Ossoff for the fact that he technically doesn’t live in the Georgia district. Perhaps taking a page from the Trump playbook, the Democrat didn’t deny the fact, but, instead, told CNN that it doesn’t matter:

“I grew up in this district; I grew up in this community—it's my home. My family is still there,” he said.