Biker Make-Over

We bikers have an image problem.

Not to the public, or even to ourselves. It's how the politicians see us that needs improvement.

Right now, legislators see us as an entertaining little group of people who make a lot of noise, but don't have any real impact on their political world. so they ignore us.

As a voting block, bikers are what strategists call an "acceptable loss." We're a tiny fraction of the voting public. The issues we care about most (our rights) aren't even on the radar for most people ... politicians included.

We can't change that perception by being better bikers. Poker runs and charity drives won't do the trick. Even traditional biker politics, like protesting or lobbying, fall short of delivering what we need: Political Power.

The only way we can get out of the ditch is to change direction. That means we have to change ourselves before we can ever expect to change anything else.

While politicians may overlook bikers, they are firmly fixated on campaign workers. They're the lifeblood of any successful political campaign. Politicians can always get elected without the help of bikers. But they could never hope to win office without campaign volunteers.

If you want to become a campaign volunteer, start by clicking on the red  SUBSCRIBE  tab at the top of the page. That's the first step on the road to freedom.

The rest is up to you.

NY Election Results

New York held special elections to fill six vacancies in the State Assembly, and the RESULTS have been posted.

There isn't much to report on, other than the names of the winning candidates and their winning percentages. I'm not aware of any bikers who were involved with the campaigns, and I never got any word on which candidates support or oppose repeal.

Fortunately, New York is one of several states that seem to have frequent special elections. While this latest opportunity came and went without any noticeable activist involvement, there will always be more special elections in the future.

When that happens, I'll let you know.

VA Election Results

Now that the AUG 23 primary races have run and the RESULTS are posted, Virginia is now headed to the general election.

Like New Jersey, Virginia holds elections in the odd years. But unlike New Jersey, bikers in Virginia are involved in political campaigns. That makes a difference that becomes apparent when the legislative session rolls around.

All the Virginia candidates for the State Senate and House of Delegates are listed under the white  ELECTIONS  tab (above). Then click on the VIRGINIA RACES link to see them all.

Green candidates support some type of repeal. Click on their name to visit their campaign website and then VOLUNTEER. That's the whole reason for this entire website. And it's also the key to getting your rights back.

Red candidates say "no way" on any type of repeal. Just pass them by. Or if they have a Green opponent, help the biker-friendly candidate beat them. Get started by clicking on that candidate's name.

Yellow means they've been asked, and we're either waiting to hear back, or they haven't come down on one side or the other.

Gray means they haven't been contacted for their repeal position yet. That's another place where you can help ... by asking them yourself. We can't help our friends win if we don't know who they are.

A little political activism now -- during the campaign season -- sure beats a lot of begging and pleading during the legislative session. How and when you spend your time is up to you, but the result will speak for itself.

Shake It Up

The world of politics is constantly in motion.

Normally this involves various pieces of legislation that are moving up through the capitol. Then, as the election season approaches, all the attention shifts to the candidates who are popping up all over the place to run for office.

This year it's a little different.

Thanks to the 2010 Census, virtually all of our political district boundaries are changing. From the US congress to the city council, "Who's in what district?" is a good question. This is especially true for state legislative districts all across the country, as well as the politicians who are holding those offices.

Sometimes seats open up when new districts are created, which means a level playing field among fresh candidates. And at other times, incumbents find themselves running against each other, fighting to be the last one standing when all the motion stops.

The good news for bikers is that the more boundaries change, the more pro-repeal candidates we can help get elected. And, it means the more nanny-crat legislators we can kick out of office. When it comes to changing district boundaries, there are always winners and losers.

Our job is to find the best opportunities in this rapidly changing political landscape. As long as we're ready to pounce, we'll make some serious progress towards the one thing that will restore our right to decide: A legislative majority.

Want to shake things up? See you on the campaign trail.

Cure for Inaction

Do you suffer from Narcotizing Dysfunction, also known as ND?

This condition has spread throughout the bikers rights community, since it is highly communicable.

ND is spread primarily via email. While most sufferers are totally unaware that they have contracted ND, there is an easy way to find out whether you've got it or not.

> Do you regularly email others with info about important issues?

> Do you believe that you've taken action by sending these emails?

If you answered YES to both questions, you've got ND!

Fortunately, help is available. And despite what some may believe, ND can easily be cured.

All you have to do is get out from behind your keyboard, and actually do something about the issue you care about. Or at least recommend a solution to the problem. Merely telling others about the issue is not enough, since this only makes the problem worse.

Ultimately, only your actions (not your emails) can cure yourself of ND. It's not enough to know about a problem. You have to actually do something about it.

Fallen Warrior

Richard "Dick" Floyd passed away on August 11, 2011. He is widely known for bringing the mandatory helmet law to California in 1992. For that alone, he is probably hated by a lot of frustrated motorcyclists.

Not me. I respect him for what he accomplished. Heck, I even admire him.

Don't get me wrong. I hate the helmet law more than your average motorcyclists. In fact, I've never met another biker who opposes the mandatory helmet law more strongly than I do.

But I gotta give credit where credit is due.

Floyd knew how to fight -- and he especially knew how to win -- the helmet law battle. He didn't get sidetracked, and never lost focus. He never gave up, and never took his eyes off his goal. But it was more than his single-mindedness that took us down. It was his winning strategy.

Dick Floyd didn't fight hard ... because he didn't have to. Instead, he fought smart. He picked his battle, and made his own rules. He played his strengths, and took advantage of our weaknesses. And we fell right into the trap he set for us. In fact, we're still running around in the same circle to this very day.

Even from the grave, he's still beating us.

Floyd drew us into a war of words, a dueling debate, a stalemate of statistics. And as long as we played his game, by his rules, on his home turf, he won. It took him only two seconds to plant a single lie, and bikers have spent the last two decades trying to prove him wrong.

Funny thing is, California bikers actually did beat Dick Floyd (once, temporarily). Not in a war of words, but by taking our fight to the campaign trail. When bikers mobilized against him, they kept him out of office. And that unified action took away the only real advantage Floyd had, which was his ability to legislate. All the rest was just a smoke screen.

But that valuable lesson was somehow lost. We abandoned the strategic high ground we held, and instead fell into his spin cycle of debating the issue. As if we could somehow say the right words or email enough letters to ever put the genie back into the bottle.

Floyd is dead, but life goes on. Redistricting is here, key legislators are termed out, and the 2012 primary elections are just around the corner. Will we keep trying to talk the talk? Or are we ready to walk the walk?

California bikers will determine whether Dick Floyd has the last laugh. And that's no joke.

Stack the Deck

Nevada is a state with a term-limited legislature. While it's debatable as to whether term limits are a cure-all for state politics, there's no question that it gives bikers a huge advantage towards repealing the helmet law.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, helmet laws are NOT decided during the legislative session. Election Day is when it really happens, and the results are merely added up when the Senate and Assembly vote on a repeal bill.

So the key to victory is not to email your legislators during the session. This approach relies too much on luck. And in this game, you need more than luck to win. If you disagree, look at how long bikers have been mass-emailing, year after year ... with no luck.

So how do term limits help the repeal effort?

By letting us stack the deck.

Incumbents are notoriously hard to defeat. Well over 95% of legislators win reelection. It's only when a seat becomes vacant that there's a real chance of making progress. This is especially true during the primary phase of the elections, where voter turnout is low and margins of victory are small.

Nevada has an additional advantage beyond term limits. Almost all of its legislative seats are located in two areas: Las Vegas and Reno. That's where all the people live, after all.

But it's also where the bikers live.

Imagine the kind of impact we'd have if a dozen bikers got involved in the few districts that are termed-out. With a little effort, we could turn those districts into "yes" votes on repeal.

Like Bon Jovi sang, "Luck ain't even lucky ... gotta make your own breaks." We need campaign volunteers to stack the deck in our favor. Click on the red  SUBSCRIBE  button to get started.