Well, the kid in GA worked his Ossoff, got lots of help from the media and big money - lots campaign contributions from outside GA, got lots of help from screwy polling (
RCP averages had Ossoff with a 48% - 17% margin.....REALLY?!?!?), and the kid still lost.
Curious what message the Dem party will take away from the election results, which, as the
Atlantic observed, was to be used by Dems as a statistical sample that showed disaffection with Trump:
Democrats were counting on Ossoff, the boy wonder of Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, to deliver the proof that, with Donald Trump in the White House, there was no limit to their political potential. But after a frenzied two-month runoff campaign between Ossoff and his Republican opponent, Karen Handel, the Democrat wound up with about the same proportion of the vote—48 percent—as Hillary Clinton got here in November. If this race was a referendum on Trump, the president won it.
Now, to be fair, Handel didn't necessarily run as a "Trumpist", though the Dems tried to paint her as fully aligned with Trump. Ossoff didn't exactly run as a tax and spend liberal either. But, as
WaPo observed (WaPo, who continues to get it wrong might have this one right):
Handel’s win will bring fresh attention to a beleaguered Democratic Party that has suffered a string of defeats in special elections this year despite an angry and engaged base of voters who dislike Trump.
Also, this loss might create further rifts in the Dem party driven by the party's left flank:
For Democrats, Ossoff’s loss was demoralizing, coming after months of bitter infighting in the wake of Trump’s victory.
His defeat is also likely to lead to more criticism from the wing of liberal activists who want a more confrontational style embodied by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). They have already complained about the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s willingness to support a more moderate candidate in Ossoff, while more progressive candidates in special elections in Montana and Kansas this year were left largely in the lurch.
Hmmm....what path forward from here?