What They Are Saying About Jon Ossoff Failing To Meet Expectations

Democrats Saying “Ossoff Was A Terrible Candidate,” Despite All Of The Money Ossoff “Still Couldn’t Win”

The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush: “My inbox this morning has been flooded by Democrats who are sort of saying Ossoff was a terrible candidate.” (MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 4/19/17)

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt: “..Behind the scenes grumbling” on Ossoff’s “outdated way to try to win” (MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 4/19/17)

 

FOX Business’ Trish Regan: “The fact that he couldn’t get this thing, that he couldn’t get the seat despite all of the money, despite all this angst apparently amongst some members of the left – he still couldn’t win.” (FOX Business’ Intelligence Report with Trish Regan, 4/19/17)

 

FOX Business’ Ed Henry: “Money was pouring in from Hollywood, he had over $8 million in the bank. So he should have reached the 50 percent. Yes, he did better than expected but the Democrats called it a victory for the ages. It wasn’t a victory, he didn’t win.” (FOX Business’ Intelligence Report with Trish Regan, 4/19/17)

 

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt: “I challenge you to get Jon Ossoff to say something very interesting or personal. I asked him in an interview, hey, what do you like to do for fun? And he had trouble answering the question.” (MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, 4/18/17)

 

Ossoff Living Outside The Sixth District Is a “Devastating Attack,” Does Not Have A “Good Answer For Why”

 

CNN: “Ossoff, on election day, still didn’t have a very good answer for why he doesn’t live in the district and, therefore, can’t vote for himself…Ossoff is 30 years old but looks younger. Ninety-five percent of his funding in the primary came from out-of-state donors. Actress Alyssa Milano was a vocal advocate for him; actor Samuel L. Jackson recorded a radio ad for Ossoff.” (Chris Cillizza, “Jon Ossoff doesn’t live in his district. That might be a problem, CNN, 4/19/17)

“Add those factors to Ossoff not living in the district and you have a potentially potent political cocktail: This guy’s just not one of us.” (Chris Cillizza, “Jon Ossoff doesn’t live in his district. That might be a problem, CNN, 4/19/17)

The New York Times’ Jeremy Peters: “Groups on the right have been hammering Ossoff for living out of the district. Bob and I were just talking about, that’s a devastating attack and that could end up doing him in.” (MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 4/20/17)

The Washington Post’s Robert Costa: “I was struck by conversations with voters where they weren’t talking about the outside groups or even President Trump. it was about whether Jon Ossoff, 30 years old, lives in the district and whether he should move into the district. Local issues.” (MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 4/20/17)

 

 Costa: “Candidate recruitment matters. You have to get people who live in these districts, who are effective in coalescing Democrats around them. You saw Senator Sanders make a comment yesterday is Jon Ossoff a progressive or not? He doesn’t know.” (MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 4/20/17)

 

Democrats’ Expectations Are So “Out Of Hand,” Jon Ossoff Is “Young, Unproven, And Does Not Even Live In The District”

The Washington Post Headline: “Who Are The Democrats?” (Ed Rogers, “Who Are the Democrats?”, The Washington Post, 4/19/17)

“First, just to state the obvious, the Democrats fell short of their goal. They tried to pitch the special election as a referendum on President Trump, but that message failed.  It seems strange, but today’s liberals invested a huge amount of money, media attention, and hopes and dreams in a 30-year-old straight, white Southern male. I think it points to the bewilderment within the Democratic Party.” (Ed Rogers, “Who Are the Democrats?”, The Washington Post, 4/19/17)

“Finally, we’ve come to the Democrats’ latest initiative — electing Jon Ossoff to a historically Republican district in Georgia. How did they let their expectations get so out of hand? On its face, Democrats should have hedged at least a little. Their candidate is young, unproven and does not even live in the district he is running to represent. Expectations for a victory had not been this high for a Democrat since Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.” (Ed Rogers, “Who Are the Democrats?”, TheWashington Post, 4/19/17)

“[Democrats] claim Ossoff came close, but coming close isn’t worth anything in elections. You either win or lose.” (Ed Rogers, “Who Are the Democrats?”, The Washington Post, 4/19/17)

Democrats And Ossoff Spent $10 Million To Only Receive 1.3 Percent More Than Hillary Clinton

The Daily Caller Headline: Ossoff Only Earned 1.3 Percent More Than Clinton In Georgia’s 6th (Phillip Stuckey, “Ossoff Only Earned 1.3 Percent More Than Clinton In Georgia’s 6th,” The Daily Caller, 4/19/17)

 “Democrats invested over $8.3 million and thousands of volunteer hours in the Georgia special election but only received a 1.3 percent gain over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 46.8 percent in November 2016.” (Phillip Stuckey, “Ossoff Only Earned 1.3 Percent More Than Clinton In Georgia’s 6th,” The Daily Caller, 4/19/17)

Politico Headline: “Democrats Begin To Wonder: When Do We Win?” (Gabriel Debenedetti, “Democrats Begin To Wonder: When Do We Win?” Politico, 4/19/17)

“For all the anger, energy, and money swirling at the grass-roots level, Democrats didn’t manage to pick off the first two Republican-held congressional seats they contended for in the Trump era, and the prospects aren’t markedly better in the next few House races coming up: the Montana race at the end of May, and the South Carolina contest on June 20. (Gabriel Debenedetti, “Democrats Begin To Wonder: When Do We Win?” Politico, 4/19/17)

 “Now, with Ossoff falling short of an outright win despite an unprecedented surge of campaign cash and national attention — in a district which Hillary Clinton lost by just 1 percentage point in 2016 — comes the potential for another round of fingerpointing within the party.” (Gabriel Debenedetti, “Democrats Begin To Wonder: When Do We Win?”, Politico, 4/19/17)

The Washington Examiner Headline: “Given record-setting fundraising, did Jon Ossoff underperform?” (Emily Jashinsky, “Given record-setting fundraising, did Jon Ossoff underperform?”, The Washington Examiner, 4/19/17)

“Jon Ossoff’s failure to win the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District outright on Tuesday is notable given the remarkable conditions impacting his race. The amount of money Ossoff has at his disposal was record-shattering. According to the Washington Post, Ossoff raised “17 times as much as the average candidate in a competitive district.” In the first quarter of 2017, Ossoff’s campaign hauled in $8.3 million dollars. For perspective, the highest-earning congressional campaign raised $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2016. The average was $500,000.” (Emily Jashinsky, “Given record-setting fundraising, did Jon Ossoff underperform?”, The Washington Examiner, 4/19/17)

“Compounded with additional factors, these staggering fundraising numbers make Ossoff’s share of the vote seem less impressive.”(Emily Jashinsky, “Given record-setting fundraising, did Jon Ossoff underperform?”, The Washington Examiner, 4/19/17)

Democrats’ ROI An “Unspectacular Performance” By Jon Ossoff

National Journal: “Democrats return on investment in GA-06 a candidate who delivered an ‘unspectacular performance.’” “Demo­crat­ic act­iv­ists spent the last month pour­ing their time, en­ergy, and pas­sion be­hind a 30-year-old film­maker, Jon Os­soff, who rep­res­en­ted the hopes and dreams of the anti-Trump Left. They turned the low-key former Hill staffer in­to a polit­ic­al celebrity, helped him raise re­cord sums of money for a House race, and even baited Pres­id­ent Trump in­to un­leash­ing a tweet­storm on the off-year con­gres­sion­al con­test.” (Josh Kraushaar, “In Georgia, Democrats Learn That Opposing Trump Is Not Enough,” National Journal, 4/19/17)

“ The re­turn on their in­vest­ment: a can­did­ate who turned in a sol­id, un­spec­tac­u­lar per­form­ance that places him in a run­off against former Geor­gia Sec­ret­ary of State Kar­en Han­del on June 20.” (Josh Kraushaar, “In Georgia, Democrats Learn That Opposing Trump Is Not Enough,” National Journal, 4/19/17)

Bernie Sanders Keeps Jon Ossoff At “Arms-Length”

The Wall Street Journal: “Asked if Mr. Ossoff is a progressive, Mr. Sanders, an independent who challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary, demurred. “‘I don’t know,’ he said. Democrats Wednesday launched the second phase of their fight to capture a long-held Republican House seat in Georgia, but the party’s attempts to unify remain hindered by lingering internal divisions.” (Reid Epstein and Natalie Andrews, “Democrats Reload for Georgia Runoff, But Party Divisions Remain,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/19/17)

The Washington Post: “But the most puzzling development this week is Sanders’s decision to keep Georgia special election candidate Jon Ossoff at arms-length. Sanders hasn’t endorsed Ossoff, and in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he seemed to suggest Ossoff’s progressive bona fides were in question.” (Aaron Blake, “Bernie Sanders’s strange behavior,” The Washington Post,4/20/17)

 “But it’s an odd statement to make about a guy who has been running in such a high-profile race and in whom Democrats have invested so much money and blood, sweat and tears.” (Aaron Blake, “Bernie Sanders’s strange behavior,” The Washington Post, 4/20/17)