<< Back to Driving Force, November 2012
SAN Votes 2012
Critical Election Demands Active Hobbyist Participation
Hope. Change. Believe. Forward. These buzz words are an unavoidable element of today’s political campaigns. Many historic political messages, such as the “Don’t Tread On Me!” slogan, are being adopted as rallying cries for certain political constituencies. A flood of messages such as these reflect the views of a portion of the citizenry that is seeking to influence our country’s governing policies.
What if these buzz words also represented a bigger ideal than just encouraging support for a single party or candidate? Perhaps we should look past the obvious campaign marketeering and consider a more universal message: Go vote! This year, voters will elect the president of the United States, 435 members of the U.S. House, 33 U.S. senators, 12 governors and thousands of state and local leaders.
The struggles to gain and maintain the right to vote have been legendary in our country. In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted, allowing women the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the result of years of discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of many of our fellow citizens. Despite the persistence of our forefathers and mothers to gain these rights, today only about half of Americans actually vote. In fairly recent times, we’ve seen the impact of individual votes on elections. In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected by a margin of 0.16% of the popular vote, while in 2000, the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore hinged on the outcome of a single state’s returns, the result of which was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
 New York Assemblyman Bill Reilich, here with his ’57 Chevrolet, is also chairman of the State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus. |
|
As SEMA Action Network (SAN) members know, the automotive hobby is impacted daily by laws and regulations issued at the national, state and local levels. Some laws are hobby-friendly but many, if not most, are not. On Election Day, we have an opportunity to determine which candidates will be making the laws which set the future course for our country and our hobby.
The SAN works closely with hundreds of lawmakers at the state and federal level. More than 600 legislators who support the motor-vehicle hobby have joined the State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus. In Washington, D.C. nearly 100 members make up the Congressional Automotive Performance and Motorsports Caucus to recognize contributions made by the automotive performance and motorsports industry to the U.S. economy. Many of these lawmakers seek to expand the hobby by improving existing motor-vehicle statutes and regulations.
Legislators such as New York Assemblyman Bill Reilich are more than just supporters of our hobby, they’re gearheads themselves. He is the chairman of the State Caucus and can often be found tinkering with vehicles from his own collection, including a prized ’57 Chevy and a custom ’60s-era Batmobile that he built from a kit. Reilich has introduced several pro-hobby bills, including SEMA-model legislation to create a vehicle titling and registration classification for street rods and custom vehicles and legislation to reduce registration fees for historic vehicles. Reilich fights daily to protect the rights of motor-vehicle enthusiasts and encourages them to get more involved with their elected officials.
“Enthusiasts and car clubs should write about the top two or three issues of importance to them and send it to their elected officials,” said Reilich. “The more information we have from groups affected by legislation helps not only to formulate our decisions on how to vote, but gives us valuable information for debating the matter at hand. Even a handful of letters on a particular subject are effective.”
As an American, your vote has equal value to every other voter, regardless of wealth, power or influence. “Participating in the election process is always very important,” added Reilich. “I recommend that car hobbyists consider supporting those that show support to them and their hobby.” To determine if your elected officials are members of these bipartisan caucuses, visit www.semasan.com.
With so much at stake for our country, speak your mind and be heard at the polls on November 6...your hobby may depend on it!