Any republican care to answer without lying?

I'll call it the Bernie -> AOC -> Newsom -> Mamdani -> Platner effect. These (and a few others) are the ones who faced the enemy and did not wilt, even when forces in their own party tried to shut them down.

What these pioneers showed is that Americans are really pissed off, and highly disappointed that Dems have too often decided to stand aside, hoping that the Republicans would beat themselves. Waiting for the fascists to commit so many crimes that the public would revolt was never a good strategy. I am thrilled to see Ossoff, Talarico, Whitehouse, and a growing number of others come out and engage publicly, defiantly, and forcefully. There are still far too many who are far too docile for the moment. But this is real progress. We need to give Ossoff his sprinkles, and encourage all the others to get on this bus.

P.S. This is not intended in any way as a criticism of Sen. Warnock. He is also terrific with his own oratorical style. and there are others who are stepping up. We should make sure we praise them all when they show the courage we need.

The fact that he is coming out with his opinions (he has always had them, believe me, I know) at all during a re-election campaign shows both conviction and a LOT of guts. I think someone on his staff responsible for testing the local waters has told him the tide might be turning, and the time has come to ride the surf all the way toward re-election. His views haven't changed one bit in the past year. Look back at the film of some of his Senate hearings and the grilling he has giving Republicans who came before him.The fact that he is feeling confident enough to come out swinging in public is the major change. The Republicans will still pour tens or hundreds of millions into the race to try to defeat him--especially now that his speeches are getting some serious internet exposure (you won't see them much on CNN, Fox Noise or CBS). Atlanta certainly is no redneck backwater. Maybe the rest of Georgia is getting tired of being thought of in that way. If so, Jon is the perfect figure to lead them out of it. He is young, sincere, eloquent and convincing. If Republicans felt secure in their right wing majority, they'd just laugh at him and move on to what they consider are tougher fights. I don't think a hundred million dollars is indicative of Republicans thinking that defeating Jon will be a breeze. It's more like they are scared shitless that he will win re-election. I think he is moving ever closer to justifying their fears.

I doubt that the Republicans are even remotely considering that they might face Jon in a race for the White House in two years. Jon isn't thinking about it either, at least not now. He and his wife have small children, and the tough Senate re-election race on their hands. But two years in American politics is like two centuries out in the normal world. A lot can (and probably will) happen between now and then.

I was thinking the same thing about the Presidency. I'm not saying he is in stepping-stone mode, but we have a very apparent lack of recognized leadership in the Party right now. We are not seeing any coalescing around any leadership at a legislative, policy, tactical or moral level. We have some people who are speaking out in a way that makes them apparent contenders for the POTUS nomination. That would be Newsom, Pritzker as established faces. Buttigieg and Beshear as young up-comers. Harris has to be included based nthe term she already served. I'm sure there are others who would like to be considered, but there is no clear momentus in any of that.

Ossoff could actually be a POTUS contender if he out-performs in the Senate race. I do think America is pretty fed up with the current generation of both parties, so it might be an advantage to be a relative newcomer.

We are getting royally fucked by AIPAC and have been for well over a generation. It would take a person like Ossoff (who I believe is closer to the views of most American Jews than is AIPAPC) to stand up to them. It was have to be a variation of the "America First" narrative with the subtle twist that American Jews are safer and better served by not having our government and middle east policy run by Netanyahu.

is in charge. And needs to be stopped