Obama to hold virtual Georgia rally for Ossoff, Warnock

Former President Barack Obama is wading into Georgia’s double Senate runoffs — but only virtually, for now.

Obama is keynoting a Friday online, get-out-the-vote event with Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock designed to attract grassroots volunteers and raise awareness about Monday’s deadline to register to vote ahead of the Jan. 5 elections.

The event, billed as a “virtual GOTV rally and discussion with volunteers,” also features former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, who has spearheaded massive voter-registration drives in the state, and Congresswoman-Elect Nikema Williams, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Whether Obama physically travels to Georgia is still an open question, largely because Democrats have been more reticent to hold rallies during the pandemic than Republicans.

Obama’s presence is notable because it draws attention to the absence of his former vice president, Joe Biden, who won Georgia in November on his way to becoming president-elect, yet isn’t sought-after by Democrats to turn out their base voters.

“We’re going to do whatever we can,” Biden told reporters last month when asked about the runoffs.

Republicans, meanwhile, are bracing for Donald Trump to rally Saturday in Valdosta on behalf of the GOP candidates, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Republicans are eager for the president to come, although there’s anxiety that he'll continue to espouse conspiracy theories about his election loss that could depress GOP voter turnout.