Dan Osborn is running to become Nebraska's next U.S. Senator, and he's doing it from outside the two-party system. As an independent challenging the incumbent Republican senator and former Gov. Pete Ricketts, RealClear Polling rates Osborn's race as a "toss up." Osborn, a former industrial mechanic, union leader, and Navy veteran, has cast himself as a populist outsider taking down the "billionaire Epstein class." Republicans say he's just a left-wing Democrat in disguise.
In today's episode, Reason Interview guest host Zach Weissmueller asks what led Osborn to, in his words, "reject the notion of a two-party system altogether" and run as an independent. Osborn defends his "independent" label and distances himself from establishment Democrats and the "Democratic Socialist agenda," which he calls "too extreme." He also says he hopes to ally with libertarian Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) to rein in mass surveillance and legalize hemp farms, and he explains why he opposes some, but not all, tariffs. Other topics include how Osborn plans to balance the budget without touching entitlements, his concerns about data centers, his views on the Second Amendment and immigration, and his plan to enact mandatory age caps for federal lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, and executive branch officials.
0:00—Introduction
