Helmet Law-Eating Machine

The RIDE2REPEAL.COM website is only a machine, to be used by any SMRO or biker activist ... a specialized tool for a single task: making helmet laws into the "third rail" of state politics. Everything about the machine is fine-tuned to make it more effective at doing this.

Despite its singular function, fringe benefits come from using this machine. For one thing, SMROs build political power just by using it -- electing biker-friendly legislators as well as earning broad respect across the statehouse. And this respect and power are obviously helpful for all other SMRO legislative goals.

Across the board, pro-repeal legislators are 90% pro-biker, as well as 90% pro-freedom. So put another way, helmet choice is the keystone of a much broader archway. And in seeking higher office, these pro-repeal/biker/freedom legislators will work their way into the highest offices of the land. So there's a lot more to fighting helmet laws than just the helmet law. It's political leverage.

SMRO officers across the country send me updates, and I post them as fast as I can. The only thing I ask is that the red/yellow/green status of candidates is based on their position on helmet laws. That keeps it simple and focused.

As the campaign season unfolds, some races must fall by the wayside. This will be based on our potential impact on who wins the race. We don't bother to list unopposed incumbents, for example, because we can't change the outcome. And when there's a green vs. green (or red vs. red) race, we have nothing to gain -- but a lot to lose.

Campaign volunteers are a precious resource ... and our only resource on the front lines. They have the least impact on races that are lop-sided, e.g., an entrenched incumbent vs. a weak outsider. Conversely, the closer the race -- the greater our impact. So we depend on SMRO officers and campaign veterans to pick the most important out of all races.

When Labor Day comes, we will do well to only list a dozen races -- the very closest ones between candidates on opposite sides of the helmet law. And by winning merely half of these, we make real and lasting gains by upping our side in the legislative balance. It will take no more than two election cycles to put any state over the top ... for good.

RIDE2REPEAL.COM is not for everyone. But it is so efficient, and so effective, we don't need an army of bikers to make it work. Just a dozen will do ... for any state. Of course a hundred would be an overwhelming political force. But that's a couple of years away, since it takes time and practice.

So thanks ... again and again ... for your trust and support. I'll try to earn it -- and keep it -- every day I draw breath.