Jon Ossoff, the young liberal running to replace Tom Price in Georgia's traditionally-Republican but Trump-skeptical Sixth Congressional District, has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in contributions from out-of-state donors. Many of them are liberals who want to deal President Trump a clear electoral blow, which will help shape the media narrative in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. But inside the district itself, where Ossoff doesn't live, the candidate is positioning himself as an "independent" voice. That posture makes sense; running as a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat won't play well with voters who consistently and solidly backed Price, and chose Mitt Romney over Barack Obama by double digits (Trump squeaked out a one-point win over Hillary Clinton there in November). But the mask slipped a bit on CNN yesterday, when Ossoff averred that if he'd been in Congress, he would have cast a "yes" vote for Obamacare:
He praises the law before muttering a few things about "improving" it -- in other words, the standard Democratic line. As noted by the conservative research group America Rising, Georgians have been hit by an average premium increase of 32 percent under the law that Ossoff thinks was a good idea. Obamacare is deteriorating and will continue to deteriorate. Of course, President Obama (for whom Ossoff didn't vote in 2012, presumably only because he failed to vote at all) and Nancy Pelosi assured Americans that their partisan scheme would be a win-win for all involved, producing lower rates across the board. Those promises have no panned out, to put it politely. Speaking of Pelosi, Ossoff was also asked whether he would support his party's leader if elected to Congress. Dodge:
He hasn't given Pelosi's leadership "an ounce of thought," he claims, because he's focused like a laser beam on the needs of a district in which he doesn't reside. But given that he admits he'd have walked Pelosi's plank on Obamacare, the real answer to this question is hardly a mystery. Critics within his own party have complained that Ossoff is a poor candidate -- and he does come across as programmed by consultants in interviews. Maybe those consultants can concoct a better answer to the Pelosi question for future reference. Before you go, and while we're on the subject of Democrats competing in red states, here's someone whose in-state donation ratio is somehow even worse than Ossoff's:
Manchin received just $7900 (3% of Q1 total) from WV donors while Jenkins hauled in $89,407 (65%). #wvsen #wvpol https://t.co/EudYE6n80d
— Chris Stansbury (@StansburyforWV) April 20, 2017
Manchin is also under fire from pro-life groups over this photo:
Thank you for standing with Planned Parenthood, @Sen_JoeManchin! #StandWithPP pic.twitter.com/oglnoDYiF1
— PP South Atlantic WV (@PPSATWV) April 19, 2017
They say that while Manchin has described himself as "pro life" in the past, he's chosen to stand in solidarity with America's top (and endlessly scandal-plagued) abortion mill.