Corruption, authoritarianism, voting suppression, inequality, legalized bribery, personal grifting, lack of accountability & consequences for “elites”, economic misery, healthcare, and a rigged, broken system. They are all related.
Here is Jon Ossoff giving a speech in Georgia a day or so ago:
Ossoff: "How does American politics really work? It's coin operated. Money goes in, favors come out. It's been running on secret money, corporate money, billionaire money ... all of this gave rise to a depraved president who exploits this rot to empower and enrich himself"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-20T04:42:15.697Z
And more from that speech:
If you watch and share one thing today make at this. Why is every democrat in the country not talking like this?
— Adam Parkhomenko (@adamparkhomenko.bsky.social) 2026-04-19T00:47:01.966Z
And more:
Ossoff: I don’t know if you saw, but JD Vance was in Georgia this week. Don’t worry—no one showed up. The stadium was empty.
— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2026-04-18T18:48:15.521Z
Ossoff is running a what is now considered a purple state - Georgia - in a tight contest. His Republican opponent will likely be one of these people: Buddy Carter - Congressman from Georgia’s 1st district, Mike Collins – Congressman from Georgia’s 10th district, or Derek Dooley – Former University of Tennessee football coach.
It will be a tough, hard-fought race. Ossoff knows it will take a disciplined campaign with “breakthrough” messaging for him to win reelection.
So what is he talking about on the stump? See my opening sentence: corruption, authoritarianism, voting suppression, inequality, legalized bribery, personal grifting, lack of accountability & consequences for “elites”, economic misery, healthcare, and a rigged, broken system.
IMHO, Ossoff is on to something. Democrats at all levels should pay attention.
In order to “breakthrough” on messaging and in order to persuade voters, candidates need to be:
Authentic and relatable. (they need to be able to break into voters’ Circle of TrustTM)
Easy to understand. (one of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to “speak at a 4th grade level”; while that might be a bit of an exaggeration, talking to the majority of voters like you are sitting on their couch with them matters)
Convincing Leaders. Yes, persuasion matters. Most voters are looking for a leader. Someone who will listen to their needs, but also someone who they believe has the intestinal fortitude and foresight to figure out how to make their lives better. voters want vision and strength and excitement. We only need to look at our southern and northern neighbors to see two leaders who do just that in very different ways: Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, an unabashed populist with vision and a “getting things done” reality who shows excitement in engaging with regular people on a daily basis; and Mark Carney in Canada, an intellectual technocrat with deep understanding of policy, a calm, no-nonsense demeanor and an iron will to move his country forward in a polarized world.
Talking about issues that resonate with people in their daily lives. Again, see my opening paragraph. As I’ve previously written, “People tend to vote on what they believe directly impacts their life. The farther away government gets from them, the harder it is for them to see the connection between government policy/actions and direct impact.” Tying Epstein Class impunity, inequality and gross corruption to pocketbook issues such as lack of affordable healthcare, grocery/gas/housing prices and regular people’s economic struggles helps bring federal government policy/action meaningfully into voters’ line of sight.
He may or not may not be The One, but Ossoff is purposefully and confidently leading the way. We all should take a page or two from his playbook…
