Website is Emerging

The new RepealMachine.com website is taking shape. Most of the layout is complete, and the links are being built day by day. If you'd like to take a peek, visit the temporary website address:

KiloVoltaire.com.

Math for Bikers

To be a successful activist, it helps to do it by the numbers. If "time is money," there is an easy way to get the most bang for your buck.

Here is a short video that explains how it works: http://youtu.be/iD3d5DKkmFE

Nobody likes to waste their time. Bikers are no different, which explains why so many have thrown in the towel when it comes to repealing the helmet law. After decades of trying, something's not working.

It's not for lack of trying, and it is maddening. But something's been missing for all these years, and that's a proven method of getting out of it what you put into it. Here's an easy example:

Let's say you and some riding buddies get together for an hour almost every month. Using round numbers, that's 10 bikers, meeting 10 times per year, for a total of 100 man hours. Let's also say there are 10 identical meetings going on around the state. That gives us a grand total of 1,000 man hours.

What did that 1,000 hours produce, strictly in terms of getting results on the helmet law? Pretty hard to say, and that's because it's pretty hard to find a connection between the investment and the return it was supposed to produce.

In the political world, a campaign volunteer can produce about 1 vote per hour. Doesn't sound like much, I admit. But it adds up quickly.

There are always a few close races in every election cycle. And if you add in special elections (where voter turnout is small), the margin of victory is usually in the hundreds of votes.

Now if those same 100 bikers put that much effort into one or two key districts, 1,000 votes (the product of 1,000 man hours) makes a difference. The same amount of investment produces a solid return. After all, it takes a legislative majority to win any issue, whether it's helmets or not. And that's the power of campaign volunteers.

How you spend your time is entirely up to you. Are you ready to get something back on your investment? If you are, the Repeal Machine has got your number.

See you on the campaign trail!

Almost There!

The new website is almost ready for prime time. The data connection is solid, and the layout is a whole lot better. No dead links, either.

Not much, but it's a start. To take the new Repeal Machine for a test ride, visit KiloVoltaire.com.

Here's what works so far:

The home page loads an election calendar for all 50 states plus DC. Most states are right in the midst of their campaign filing deadlines, with primary elections right around the corner. If your state's deadline has already passed, it's time to find out who your candidates are.

The Tutorial page is just a link to a simple "Welcome" video. As time permits, more will be added, including more videos as well as an "owner's handbook" for using the Repeal Machine.

The Alerts and Races pages are just place holders. Both of them have a simple work-around, which is to send an email to RepealMachine@Gmail.com. Be sure to always include your ZIP Code in your email.

The News page takes you right here, to the Repeal Machine blog. As before, I'll try to post timely election information as well as articles on how to be a more effective activist.

The best part is yet to come, of course. Thanks to everyone for their patience and support.

See you on the campaign trail!

Bikers vs Politics

Motorcycles have nothing to do with politics. And I mean nothing. If they did, you'd see every politician riding one.

For bikers to become relevant in the political world, bikers have to become a part of the the political world. When we create a biker version of how we think politics ought to work, we fail to accomplish anything meaningful or lasting.

I totally understand how hard it is for bikers to "let go of the handlebars." For many of us, it's all they have to hold on to.

For any biker's rights organization to be successful, it has to have a few essential qualities: Thinking outside the box, learning and adapting, and doing what gets tangible results. If those qualities were part of biker culture, restoring our rights would be a snap.

The Repeal Machine is where I invest my time and effort, of course. I'm in the process of re-engineering the website, so our blog been very quiet for the past few months. But the new website is pretty amazing, and I can't wait to formally announce its return.

Just imagine a website that seamlessly connects the activists with the issues, the laws, the bills, the bill votes, the politicians, the elections, and the district demographics.

I've already tested each component of the new website, and it all works. Now it's just a matter of assembling the parts, and the Repeal Machine will be ready to ride.

The key to political power is campaign work for good candidates in swing districts. It's a pretty easy concept to grasp. Fortunately a lot of bikers do understand the connection, and they are ready to hit the campaign trail.

Pardon Our Dust

The new website is currently being loaded, brick by brick. I'm not kidding.

Right now it's "hiding" at the following address: www.KiloVoltaire.com

In fact, if you refresh your screen it will probably look different from moment to moment. The good news is that it took a lot to get to this point (where you can actually see something going on).

Where's the Website?

The new RepealMachine.com website isn't quite ready yet. I was hoping to have it up and running by the end of February. But despite very long hours and clearing a few major hurdles, it's not ready yet.

I'm currently working with our new web hosting service to configure the files. Once that's done, I can start rolling out the new features. But in the mean time, here's a little news you can use.

The major milestones in an election year are the candidate filing deadline, the primary election, and general election dates. The first two vary considerably from state to state, but all states holding 2012 elections will have their general elections on November 6.

Regarding the filing deadlines and primaries, here are the dates for states with mandatory helmet laws (sorted in order of filing date):

ST FILING   PRIMARY  GENERAL
-- -------- -------- --------
NC 02/29/12 05/08/12 11/06/12
-- -------- -------- --------
NE 03/01/12 05/15/12 11/06/12
OR 03/06/12 05/15/12 11/06/12
CA 03/14/12 06/05/12 11/06/12
NV 03/16/12 06/12/12 11/06/12
MO 03/27/12 08/07/12 11/06/12
-- -------- -------- --------
TN 04/05/12 08/02/12 11/06/12
-- -------- -------- --------
MI 05/15/12 08/07/12 11/06/12
WA 05/18/12 08/07/12 11/06/12
GA 05/25/12 07/31/12 11/06/12
-- -------- -------- --------
MA 06/05/12 09/06/12 11/06/12
VT 06/14/12 08/28/12 11/06/12
-- -------- -------- --------
WV ??/??/12 05/08/12 11/06/12
NY ??/??/12 09/11/12 11/06/12
MD ??/??/12 09/11/12 11/06/12
DC ??/??/12 05/15/12 11/06/12
AL ??/??/12 06/05/12 11/06/12