Get the Vote Count

Evaluating hundreds of legislative candidates is no easy task. But in order to mobilize campaign volunteers, it's essential to know where the candidates stand on motorcycling issues. That's why candidate surveys and personal contact are so important. Otherwise we are flying blind.

Of course there are limitations to how "solid" our knowledge about a candidate is. Politicians can change their mind (and tell a fib or two), surveys can get lost in the shuffle, and sometimes front-running (or tail-dragging) candidates never respond to anybody. So we have to go with the best info we've got, and try to fill in the gaps as best we can.

There is only ONE source of information that is bullet-proof, and that is a candidate's voting record. They can say what they want, they can change their mind a thousand times, or they can hide behind the Capitol walls ... but their voting record can't be denied. There is no better indicator of how a legislator WILL vote ... than how they DID vote.

This brings me to the point that we all need to consider, and that is pushing a repeal bill as far as it will go. Conventional wisdom is that there's only one reason to submit a bill, and that is for the bill to become law. While this is the ultimate goal of any bill, there is an equally important reason to submit a bill ... and that is to get the vote count.

Lacking a vote count, we can only guess. And an educated guess takes a lot of homework, legwork, and head-scratching. Mistakes and disagreements are bound to occur, as well as being left completely in the dark on a lot of candidates. We need the vote count to make it a lot easier to pick the races that matter, and skip the ones that don't.

So when the time comes to submit a repeal bill during the next session, let's get the maximum benefit out of that effort. Whether passage is likely, unlikely, or a snowball's chance in the Mojave Desert, push that bill as far as it will go ... through the Transportation Committees ... as well as through BOTH full chambers.

Even if it gets shot down, we'll know who the shooters are. That's because we'll see the muzzle flash, and we'll know where to direct our firepower during the campaign season.

-RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com