Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) was the top pick of attendees at a progressive convention in Washington, D.C., to be Democrats' standard-bearer in the 2028 presidential election, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.
Of the 990 poll respondents at Crooked Con, hosted by Crooked Media, 38.4% selected Ossoff as their first choice for the 2028 Democratic nominee. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) came in second with 16.6%, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg placed third with almost 14%.
The straw poll capped a weekend that saw polling analyst Nate Silver declare Ossoff his "slam dunk number one pick" from the same stage, according to The Independent. Silver, who founded FiveThirtyEight and now publishes the Silver Bulletin newsletter, argued the 39-year-old senator can bridge the party's divide between progressives and centrists.
"He's such a slam dunk number one pick," Silver told the Crooked Con conference, per The Independent.
Silver also leaned on the senator's appearance, joking, "Is he looksmaxxing or something?" — a reference to the online trend of maximizing physical attractiveness. The Independent reported that Ossoff has drawn heavy attention on Instagram and TikTok, with one Florida-based content creator comparing him to a fictional television president.
The Georgia senator is fresh off a re-election victory and has seen his odds of winning the 2028 Democratic nomination surge on online prediction platforms. The Independent reported he has overtaken Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom on both Kalshi and Polymarket, emerging as the front-runner.
Ossoff was first elected to the Senate in 2021, becoming the nation's first Jewish senator and the first Democrat elected to a full term in Georgia since 1996. He has built a reputation as a moderate Democrat and outspoken critic of the Trump administration, drawing attention this summer for pressing a Trump nominee on the outcome of the 2020 election. Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote this summer that "He's their new Obama," according to The Independent.
The senator has described himself as "a committed supporter of the State of Israel," while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing Israeli forces of violating the law in Gaza. Speculation about his political future became a line of attack during his Senate campaign.
Despite the buzz, Ossoff has publicly denied any White House ambitions. "I have zero interest in running for president. I'm not running for president," he said last month, per The Independent.
Political chatter and early polling are not always reliable predictors of success. Two years before the 2016 presidential election, Jeb Bush was widely viewed as a front-runner for the Republican nomination. He ultimately dropped out after failing to win a single primary.
The Crooked Con results offer a snapshot of the activist base, not the broader Democratic electorate. But the numbers tell a story: nearly four in ten attendees at a conference hosted by a progressive media company picked the moderate Georgian over the democratic socialist from New York. Ocasio-Cortez's 16.6% showing puts her more than twenty points behind Ossoff among the people who supposedly form the party's left flank.
Whether that translates into a primary victory is another question. Ossoff's Senate record, his Israel comments, and his repeated denials of interest will all face scrutiny if he enters the race. For now, the conference crowd has made its preference known.
Our Take
So the progressive faithful gathered in Washington, D.C., and handed 38.4% of their straw poll to a man who says he has "zero interest" in running for president. That's the state of the modern Democratic Party: even their activists can't work up much enthusiasm for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who finished a distant second at 16.6% on her home turf of the left.
Crooked Con is not a Republican primary. It's a gathering hosted by Crooked Media, the outfit founded by former Obama staffers, and it drew the kind of attendees who cheer for Nate Silver analyzing a candidate's "looksmaxxing." This is the Democratic base's idea of a kingmaking event — and it produced a coronation for a senator whose main claim to fame is a viral confrontation with a Trump nominee.
Patriots should pay attention to what this reveals. The Democrats are already searching for their next Obama, and the legacy media is happy to help. Laura Ingraham called Ossoff exactly that this summer. Nate Silver called him a "slam dunk."
Republicans hold the White House, the Senate, and the momentum of a second Trump term. The Democrats' bench is a senator who won't admit he's running, a congresswoman who can't crack 17% at her own party's confab, and a former Transportation Secretary who finished third. If this is the best the Left can do, American voters should like their odds.
But don't get complacent. The same pundits who anointed Ossoff are the ones who missed 2016 and 2024. They are looking for a savior because they don't have one. Our job is to make sure they never find one — and to remind every voter what happened the last time the media crowned a senator from a blue-leaning state as the next Obama.
