Hot Water on Lobby Day

For me, Motorcycle Lobby Day at the state capital has always been a lot like taking a bath, especially in terms of temperature. Let me explain why.

After a long ride in the freezin' season, there would be nothing better than enjoying an endless supply of hot water. Just the stuff to take the chill out of those weary bones.

But there's just one little problem. The water can be as cold as penguin pee around this time of year.

So at first I tried taking out my trusty Zippo, attempting to heat up the water as I stepped into it. Not very effective, with all that water flowing around, and me with just one lighter.

Since everyone knows there's strength in numbers, the next time I came prepared. I knew some friends were also taking the annual plunge, and we had a few dozen lighters between us. But no matter how hard we tried, and no matter how many Bic's got flicked, the water was still just too darned cold.

There must be more to it than just numbers.

Then somebody told me a little secret. "Fire up the water heater BEFORE you take a bath. If you keep trying to heat the water just as you're stepping into it, you'll never warm anything up."

I took that advice.

Using the same original Zippo I'd had all along, I went straight to the water heater and lit the pilot light. It took just as much effort as it always had before. But this time, I did it ahead of time ... in the right place, and at the right time. And what do you know? An endless supply of hot water!

Of course the moral of the story is that bikers must plan ahead ... and work ahead ... if we are ever to expect a warm reception at the state capital. On Lobby Day, legislation streams by faster than a full-on firehose. And as often as not, we are left out in the cold when we talk to unfamiliar legislators about motorcycle issues.

But this time we planned ahead, and we worked ahead. Bikers lit the fires a little earlier, during the campaign season -- just a few short months before Lobby Day and the start of the legislative session.

It was as easy as 1-2-3.

First we looked at all the races to see which ones were the closest. Next, we found out which of the candidates (if any) were biker-friendly, regardless of political party. And finally, we helped our candidates by working for them as campaign volunteers, each one delivering votes by the dozen.

No, we didn't win them all. But we did learn a few lessons along the way, so we can only get better at it the next time around. And when the day was done, we helped a quite few new friends win quite a few important races.

All it took was a little effort -- mostly delivering campaign yard signs -- but also knocking on doors, making phone calls, etc. Every little bit helped.

Most importantly, we got lasting results. Now there are brand-new state legislators who are biker-friendly, right from the get-go. And a few of our former legislative opponents are now long gone, never again able to stand in our way.

Yes, Lobby Day was very different this year. It wasn't spent frantically trying to warm up legislators who didn't know us. Instead we saw the smiling, friendly faces of quite a few new allies in the state legislature.

A couple of times, legislators took me straight into their offices for a sit down chat -- right past other lobbyists who'd already scheduled appointments -- and were left waiting in line. After all, friends come first.

The best part is that it can only get better. Each time we roll up our sleeves and help a biker-friendly candidate win, we gain another ally in the legislature. And those victories will keep on adding up, eventually resulting in the legislative majority we need -- to pass the legislation we want.

We fought hard for those legislators on the campaign trail, and now they fight just as hard for us at the state capital.

So now when it comes to political power, bikers have a new reputation. But we got it the old fashioned way.

We earned it.

So jump on in -- the water's fine. And there's always room for one more. All you gotta do is take the plunge. Visit RIDE2REPEAL.COM to get your feet wet.

-RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com