“The firestorm over Sen. Jon Ossoff’s suggestive remark about President Trump’s right-hand woman has raised a bigger question about the type of campaign Democrats will run in 2028,” Axios reports.
“Trump has made schoolyard taunts and personal insults a staple of presidential politics. One of the big strategic calls for Democrats in 2028 is whether to fight on Trump’s terms — or bet that voters are exhausted and ready for something a bit more dignified.”
“Sen. Jon Ossoff stood next to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly on Tuesday and delivered the kind of anti-Trump broadside that has become a campaign signature, marking the latest round in an escalating feud with the White House,” CNN reports.
Said Ossoff: “I don’t think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging, crook president, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win, tried to imprison this man, who embodies American heroism.”
“For months, Ossoff has followed a consistent pattern: hold one large campaign rally each month, tear into President Donald Trump and his GOP opponent with easily digestible soundbites, and let those barbs ricochet around the internet.”
“Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) insisted that he has ‘zero interest’ in running for president in 2028 during an interview Monday night,” Mediaite reports.
“Some battleground candidates are going viral for shooting from the hip. Jon Ossoff is doing it from a carefully controlled script,” Politico reports.
”Ossoff drew attention Sunday for calling out a little-known aide to President Donald Trump by first name on a Midtown Atlanta rally stage. It was part of a larger prepared speech that hammered Trump over the war in Iran — and part of a larger strategy to raise his profile in a critical Senate race, all while some national Democrats openly question whether he will mount a 2028 presidential run.”
The Guardian: Jon Ossoff calls Trump’s handling of Iran war “uniquely despicable” in excoriating speech.
Peter Hamby: “As the next presidential race looms, Democratic operatives have begun studying how to reach less politically engaged swing voters on the platforms that may determine the next election—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even ChatGPT.”
“And they’re already strategizing about how to leverage their search activity to create ads blaming Vance and Rubio for everything from high gas prices to contaminated lettuce.”
“Mark Kelly is no stranger to launches, and now the former astronaut is all but plotting one for a 2028 presidential bid,” Politico reports.
“Kelly is showering the Democratic Party apparatus with money to the tune of $1 million raised or contributed, leveraging his status as an enemy of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with $25 million in the bank to build a wealth of political capital.”
“Now, he’s touching down on campaign ground today in Georgia alongside his wife and former Rep. Gabby Giffords for a three-day swing to stump for Sen. Jon Ossoff, to whom he’s already contributed over $400,000. The duo will head to the Columbus area for a meet-and-greet and discussion with voters about affordability, and a canvass kickoff with volunteers.”
“Does that foreshadow an Ossoff-Kelly 2028 Democratic ticket?”
“The centrist Democratic group Third Way recently declared ‘war’ on democratic socialists to head off what they fear could be a far-left hijacking of the party ahead of 2028,” Axios reports.
“But establishment Democrats have made clear what they’re against without making much of a case for what they’re for.”
”Democratic socialism, whatever you think of it, is easy to grasp: Tax billionaires and redistribute wealth. Provide government-funded health care and child care for everyone. Rely less on markets for housing and education. Empower workers with stronger unions.”
”The establishment vision is murky. Raise taxes, but not too high; use government to make health care and child care more affordable, rather than taking them over; rein in the excesses of capitalism without upending capitalism itself.”
“The Democratic National Committee on Saturday adopted a new early state calendar for the party’s 2028 presidential primary in a significant change that will have major implications for how Democrats pick their next White House nominee,” NOTUS reports.
“South Carolina will kick off the Democratic primary for only the second time, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire. New Mexico will be the fourth to hold a primary, marking the first time the state has been among the first in the country to vote.”
CBS News: South Carolina to hold first 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
ABC News: “The party is expected to give a final vote on Saturday, during its scheduled meeting, to finalize the 2028 calendar order, which would have South Carolina’s primary on Jan. 22, Nevada on Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan on Feb. 22 and Virginia on Feb. 29.”
“The proposed order puts South Carolina at the top of the list — similar to how it was the first state in the party’s official calendar in 2024, although New Hampshire still held primaries earlier in violation of the DNC’s calendar.”
Vanity Fair: “Every summer the Eastern Seaboard’s sandy hotspots fill up with high-flying politicos, but in today’s anti-elite moment, they’ve got to raise their big money under the radar.”
“Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia is slated to meet with political donors in the Hamptons later this month for his November reelection bid, a fundraising swing that will also allow the Wall Street set a chance to vet him as a potential 2028 presidential candidate,” Bloomberg reports.
“Democrats are gathering to finalize their 2028 presidential primary calendar this week, setting the stage for a wide open contest to succeed President Donald Trump and chart a path ahead as the party’s voters oscillate between progressive and more moderate candidates,” the Associated Press reports.
“The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote at its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on the new order that frontloads states with more diverse populations.”
New York Times: “The new information about Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s private life is coming alongside a spate of speculation that she’s preparing to run for president. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who has said she hasn’t ruled out a presidential run or a run for Senate, could now be navigating a possible national or statewide campaign as a young, world-famous, single woman, a profile that would only intensify the ideological and cultural debates that swirl around her.”
“The reality of that new level of exposure became apparent on Tuesday night after a reporter for Puck and TMZ reported that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez had split with Mr. Roberts… Her relationship status was not new, but public disclosure of it all but broke the internet.”
“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has moved ahead of California Gov. Gavin Newsom in early prediction-market odds for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination,” NewsNation reports.
“As of Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez had an 18% chance of winning the Democratic nomination on Polymarket, narrowly ahead of Newsom at 17%.”
“Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff ranked third at about 16%.”
“President Donald Trump dismissed a question Tuesday night from a reporter about the possibility of him running for a third term in 2028, saying ‘the law is very strong.'” Fox News reports.
Said Trump: “Everybody asks me that question, and you know that the law is very strong on that. I’d love to run, but the law is very strong.”
“Senator Jon Ossoff delivered a blistering attack on Donald Trump from a Black pulpit near Atlanta, casting his gaze beyond his Senate opponent to the U.S. president as the Georgia Democrat campaigns for a second term this November,” Bloomberg reports.
“He made no mention of his Republican Senate opponent, Representative Mike Collins, instead telling the congregation he wanted to speak about Trump ‘as we endure the daily spectacle of this broken man, and his ruined presidency.'”
“Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said she will not run for election for U.S. Senate in 2028 despite rumors,” South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports.
“A liberal group working to elect scientists to public office has a 2028 message for Arizona Sen. — and former astronaut — Mark Kelly: Run, Kelly, run,” Axios reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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