A day after the Fourth of July, Trevor Reilly sat at Granite City Food & Brewery crafting plans. <\/p>\n
He was looking to make a name for the small, fringe party he adopted after feeling the GOP had turned its back on him. <\/p>\n
The Lancaster Libertarian party, which Reilly heads, has started to meet theremonthly since January, looking for ways to grow a party seemingly overlooked in last year's election. <\/p>\n
Reilly, a libertarian neophyte and newly ordained political activist, didn't see last year's presidential election as a two-dimensional, \"pick-the-lesser-of-the-two-evils\" fight between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. <\/p>\n
Instead, Reilly, a 25-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student and Afghanistan veteran, took a third route campaigning for libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. <\/p>\n
\"It's like being part of the 'Bad News Bears,'\" he said. \"You're the underdog.\" <\/p>\n
Being the underdog was a change of pace for Reilly. <\/p>\n
Ever since he was eligible to vote, he had always been a staunch Republican, a direct outcome of growing up in a conservative household. <\/p>\n
But as the election cycle picked up, Reilly saw himself drawn to the TV more and more watching everything from \"Morning Joe\" on MSNBC to Fox News. <\/p>\n
That's how he found out about the Libertarian Party, eventually deciding to switch affiliations after he said the GOP abandoned the values he held dear like smaller government and fewer taxes. <\/p>\n
\"More Republicans were straying away from the values, like smaller government, that they used to hold,\" he said. \"This year's election was just a culmination of that.\" <\/p>\n
Reilly has been the head of the Lancaster Libertarian Party since October,spearheading activism previously unseen in the party in Lincoln. <\/p>\n
From June 25 to July 2, the party held Freedom Week, devoted to discussing and highlighting libertarian ideals. <\/p>\n
Such as smaller government, less taxation, legalization of more recreational drugs, and less bureaucratic meddling in people's lives. <\/p>\n
In short, fiscally conservative but socially liberal, Reilly said. <\/p>\n
The week culminated in the Rally for Liberty on the north steps of the Capitol, in which around 60 people gathered to discuss and celebrate the libertarian platform. <\/p>\n
It's a platform that it is not totally new to Nebraska politics. <\/p>\n
In June 2016, state Sen. Laura Ebke of District 32 pulled the same switch as Reilly, ditching the Republican Party for the Libertarians, citing frustration with Republican partisanship. <\/p>\n
Reilly plans to organize more rallies not marches, he said to get the libertarian message out. <\/p>\n
\"Marches don't work to the same extent; they can devolve,\" he said. \"Rallies stay centered on the message.\" <\/p>\n
Concerning the latest uptick in activism in Lincoln and around the country, Reilly said he sees it as reaction to Trump just as the tea party reacted to Obama. <\/p>\n
\"It's just a side trying to get back at the other side,\" he said. <\/p>\n
As far as his own future is concerned once he graduates? <\/p>\n
\"Who knows,\" Reilly said. \"I might even run for office someday.\" <\/p>\n
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Newly minted Libertarian feels GOP strayed from small government values - Lincoln Journal Star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A day after the Fourth of July, Trevor Reilly sat at Granite City Food & Brewery crafting plans. Continue reading