Reberger is among the most powerful insiders in Idaho history, serving as chief of staff to former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and former U.S. Sen. Steve Symms. Now a lobbyist, he also has shaped policy as a board member of the Idaho State Building Authority, judge-nominating Idaho Judicial Council, Capitol City Development Corp., and Boise Airport.

Though Reberger has often shied from the spotlight, he agreed to appear in MSN's "Our Voices" series. The 3-minute video features Reberger in his office in Boise's Hoff Building, with cutaways of the Downtown scene.

Reberger, a retired Navy captain, describes how President Dwight Eisenhower and Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater solidified his loyalty to the GOP.

Of Gen. Eisenhower, Reberger says, "I thought it was really cool to have a hero soldier leading the party.''

Goldwater's 1964 "Conscience of a Conservative" campaign appealed to Reberger with a message that said, "just let freedom ring and life would be very good if you put your nose the to grindstone and worked hard."

But Reberger is critical of the current state of his party, saying, "There seems to be a tendency to spend too much time trying to figure out how to win the next election as opposed to the governing side. We're much better off when we're focused on governing as opposed to campaigning or politicking, and that's been the disconnect."

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