

Georgia Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Michelle Nunn, right, shakes hands with Republican candidate David Perdue following a debate, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, in Perry, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Democrats have been trying all manner of ways to give President Obama the Heisman, acknowledging the stark reality of a once-popular president who is now a drag on the ballot.

Alison Lundergan Grimes, running against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), punctuated her separation from Obama by toting a gun in one of her ads.

Running in Colorado, Sen. Mark Udall (D) has said he is the last person that Obama wants to see marching up the White House lawn.

This sort of I-am-totally-not-Obama strategy is all the more necessary after Obama said last week that even though his name isn't on the ballot this year, his policies are.

Of all the snappy comebacks to the Obama tag, though, Michelle Nunn might have the best one so far.

In a very raucous Georgia Senate debate on Tuesday night, Nunn offered this in response to businessman David Perdue's (R) attempts to link her to Obama (emphasis mine):

My name is on the ballot. We have two more years of President Obama, and then we will have another president, and we need someone who is going to work with and respect whoever is the president to actually get things done on behalf of the American people.

Two things stand out about this retort.

First, Nunn is essentially calling the president a lame duck, who will soon be off the national stage. If elected, she will outlast him. There will be new issues, new policies and a new president.

Second, Nunn is also pivoting to a critique of the GOP's focus on Obama as a campaign and governing strategy. 'After Obama leaves office, then what's your vision?' Nunn is saying.

It's a clever , double-barreled response that smartly focuses on the post-Obama world, which after all is not so far away.