When Juliet spoke her famous line, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet,” no doubt she was thinking about her beloved in the famous work by Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet.”
She certainly wasn’t thinking of Dan Osborn, the “independent” candidate for the U.S. Senate who, in reality, is more accurately described by Matthew in the Bible as being a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Osborn burst on to the political scene two years ago when he nearly pulled off the political equivalent of a high school football team upsetting a major college powerhouse. His independent bid to win the U.S. Senate seat over incumbent Deb Fischer was one of the big stories of the 2024 political season.
He’s trying again in 2026, going up against another Republican incumbent, Pete Ricketts, but his approach is a lot different than the grass-roots effort he ran two years ago.
While he’s considered an independent, the truth is this — he’s a Democrat running as an independent candidate, trying to ride the coattails of the independent movement while being propped up by Democrat-leaning PAC’s and groups that are desperate for power and — in the case of the Nebarska Democrats — relevance.
Democrats in Nebraska, at one time in history, had some degree of pull in this state. While Nebraska has traditionally been a Republican-leaning state, several noteworthy Democrats have been able to reach across the aisle and work with the party. Names like J.J. Exon, Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson were able to cast political opposition aside and work for the betterment of ALL Nebraskans.
So where are they now?
The NDP has turned into a laughingstock that barely shows up when elections roll around. Republicans have dominated the major seats in this state since well before the turn of the millennium and either win the big races by runaway margins — or win without an alternative being offered by the NDP.
The party’s executive director, Jane Kleeb, has tried to pull the state party in a farther-left direction than the one that made it a palatable alternative to the same-ol’ same-ol’ the Nebraska GOP offers, and the results have been, well, laughable.
So funny, in fact, that in the 2026 campaign, Kleeb has not only abandoned her party’s primary choice for the seat, but has done a 180-degree turn on her opinion of Osborn — from the party’s version of Benedict Arnold to the guy who can beat the billionaire.
On May 15, 2024, Kleeb had this to say about Osborn, per a release published on the Nebraska Democrats website at nebraskademocrats.org:
"For months, the Nebraska Democratic Party has been meeting with Dan Osborn to discuss forming a coalition of voters to defeat Deb Fischer. For months Dan has told the Democratic party that he wants the party’s endorsement and asked us to keep our ballot line open so we could form a coalition. Elections are won by addition not subtraction and today by Dan going back on his word he is telling Democratic voters that he doesn’t want their party’s support. We kept our word to Dan and now that he has betrayed that trust we will put forward a write-in candidate to represent the Democratic Party.”
Fast-forward to July 30 of last year when Kleeb posted this on her X account:
“We are supporting Dan Osborn. We believe a coalition of Dems, Indys and Republicans can beat Ricketts and break up the one-party rule. We like the odds of a mechanic vs a billionaire.”
Well, which is it, Jane — is Dan a good guy or a bad guy? You can’t have it both ways.
And as far as Osborn’s “independent” status goes — if you’re REALLY going to run against the two-party machine, shouldn’t you be refusing donations from PAC’s that support one side or the other?
A check of Osborn campaign financials would clearly state that this is the last thing he is doing to generate financial support in his effort to win the Senate seat.
OpenSecrets.org, which keeps track of who is donating to who, lists 20 PAC contributors supporting the “independent” candidate from Nebraska. Of those 20, NINETEEN are liberal-leaning groups whose support is going toward liberal candidates for office.
Among the noteworthy names of those PAC’s are the following, including the names of members of Congress who the PAC’s main support is going to:
— Warren for Senate (Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.)
— Kind for Congress Commitee (Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc.)
— Way Back PAC (Rep. Jon Tester, Montana)
He’s also receiving support from Lucas Kunce, a Missouri attorney running for Senate in that state; and Martin Heinrich, a former senator from New Mexico.
And while most of these PAC’s donations run $1,000 or more, oddly enough, he’s also getting support from the Heart of Dixie Obligation PAC, the only one among the 20 listed that leans toward the conservative side of the aisle. (The amount of the HDO support is a whopping $10, for what it’s worth.)
So let’s be honest, folks — if you’re going to be a TRUE independent candidate for public office, you aren’t about to accept a penny from a group that — if you are elected — will be knocking on your door offering you cash to vote their interest. Whether that group leans toward liberal causes or conservative efforts — you can’t be an independent if you’re being propped up by one side or the other.
In no way am I endorsing another six-year term for Ricketts. I agree with many who feel that Ricketts is out of touch with Nebraska’s best interests, something he showed as governor and is now proving after the buddy-buddy job he got four years ago when Gov. Pig Pen moved him into the seat vacated by Ben Sasse.
While the NDP has become a desperate train wreck of a political party, the Nebraska GOP has become lazy while trying to ride the coattails of President Trump, another wolf in sheep’s clothing who convinced Republicans that he’s not really a Democrat when history shows us otherwise.
Nebraska needs REAL independent leadership in its key political positions — representatives who understand Nebraska’s needs and works with people on both sides of the political aisle to get the job done. You’re not going to get that with the roster of Republicans and whoever the Democrats try to pass off as somebody who’s not really them, although the truth is plainly in front of us.
Getting money from “the other side” doesn’t make Dan Osborn an independent — what it makes him is a fraud.
