The Ride Of Your Lives
Attention: Everyone who rides a bike in Orlando
"The Ride Of Your Lives"
When: Nov 4th 5PM
Where: TBD
Why: A massive bike ride is being planned for Election Day, Nov. 4th. If you ride Critical Mass, race in an Alley Cat, commute to work, or just ride downtown to throw a couple drinks back, your support is needed. A HUGE turnout is needed. Our goal is to gather at least 300-500 riders. We want to grab the attention of both the local and the National media, to show the whole country that the bike-riding energy conscious youth of Orlando is aware of the impact of this election, and we are ready to have our say. We will not sit back and not be counted this go round. This is The Ride Of Your Lives…
As election day draws closer and closer and the race for the Presidency is virtually a deadlock, we have the responsibility of living in one of the most vital, if not THE most critical swing state in the country. Florida is exactly where the race was lost the last two elections. We as young Floridians are faced with that responsibility and have the chance now to make your mark on this outcome. This event was originally conceived as a pro Obama push and as things solidify and come together, it isn't a matter of WHO you want to vote for as much as it is vital that you VOTE.
We get ONE VOTE to make that difference. ONE. To be heard. To Count. To Matter. For most of us, this power has not been embraced because as a youth culture we largely believe that we don't count, and can't make a difference. We have been MADE to believe this. The constant fear mongering America we live in has us thinking the wrong way. We have heard stories and rumors of Bush stealing the election from Al Gore. Our state continues to drop the ball at polling stations… and somehow out of the lower 48 states, we remain the only state that can't seem to fix their ballot system. All of this is frustrating, and corrupt, and criminal. But the most irresponsible thing we can do, as the most crucial demographic in the race, is bow to the fear tactics, to buy into the belief that we do not count. We have to vote. WE HAVE TO!
The last day to register to vote in Florida is Monday, October 6th Are you registered? Are your friends and family?
Each and every vote in Florida is absolutely critical to victory on Election Day.
In 2004, 1.4 million registered voters stayed home on Election Day, and Bush won by less than 381,000 votes. If you haven't registered yet, do it RIGHT NOW.
For those of you without a printer, or for various reasons can't mail the registration form in, you can register in person at Bar-BQ-Bar starting Monday night, and if there are any rides or get-togethers going on this week, let us know and write to (adamhudgins@yahoo.com) and he'll drop by with some forms.
We are organizing in conjunction with local businesses to launch the "The Ride Of Your Lives." Press releases are being sent to all local print and television media as well as to National press in an attempt to put a spotlight on Orlando. Florida will be closely watched as usual and in the spotlight as the nation awaits the results. On election day.
Details are pending on the actual ride for Nov 4th The main focus right now is to spend this final week making sure that all of you are indeed registered and can participate in the voting process. Do your part and start the word spreading and motivating your friends and fellow riders to organize and come together.
What we know so far, is that we have a goal of at least 300 riders to come together as a united front. A unified voice, to show the Nation that at least in Central Florida it's youth came together and voted in mass to make a difference. At this point we know that we will be meeting at a centralized location around 5PM on election day, organizing in groups according to voting precincts, and riding out to get the job done! Then we will meet back up and celebrate, with drinks and food . Specials will be offered to anyone wearing their "I Voted" stickers.
This is our chance to wake up our community and matter.
See you at the ride
5 months ago
17 comments:
Down.
ill be there after i vote :)
http://radicalgraphics.org/albums/Oil/11_bpexec.sized.jpg
"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."
~Emma Goldman
I'll be there, but I'm not a citizen yet.
I hate how it's always "in these times of turmoil"
i'd be super pumped if it wasn't pro obama, i may still go though.
should i come in boxer's...
only?
Yeah... calling this the ride of everyone's life and making it so poignantly pro-candidate instead of pro-voting seems a little inappropriate.
I'm not saying I'm even voting for mccain, but i'm tired of hearing everyone else's opinion about bush. noone's saying anything everyone hasn't heard before.
Anyway, voting's about making your own decision and to a fault, Obama supporters tend to act they're voting for the Messiah or the suppreme ruler of the Universe or something.
Can't we have a ride where we support people making up their own damn minds? I would go to that.
wow! and here I was thinking that I was in the minority... :)
I see both sides of this but I will admit, the obvious endorsement leaves a weird taste in my mouth. While I may agree with certain parts of Obamas platform, IMO making it primarily a pro Obama event will alienate those in the cycling community that support 3rd parties or subscribe to other political candidates / systems. Especially if you are trying to get numbers to come out and support the ride...
What's wrong with making this just a statement regarding energy independence and civic responsibility as opposed to the endorsing of a particular candidate? A commonality we all tend to share in the 407 bike community is our common belief in offsetting our dependence on the petro economy and resistance to the myopic energy policies put in place by the ruling class. Regardless, I plan on attending and I hope many of you who feel strongly about our countries energy policies will as well...
Lets keep those comments coming though, I'm enjoying the various points of view this thread is generating...
A pro-Obama ride isn't inappropriate. I'm pretty sure the "make up your own damn mind" ride is the same exact thing as prObama ride.
I'd ride if it was encouraging people to get out and vote, but I would hate to be lumped into a group of people who subscribe to the misinformation contained in the letter from the post.
It's funny that in a pro-Obama post someone would criticize the current administration for "trying to stick us with the $700 billion price tag of their free wheeling greed and abuse of our financial institutions" and saying, "That’s our money."
While I do NOT think the corporate bailouts are the best decision for our economy, Obama is the most socialist presidential candidate ever to come from either of the two major parties. You want to talk about stealing your money, check this comment out from Biden last week:
''We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people.''
It doesn't get any more clear than that. Biden is saying point blank, "we want the government to have the right to TAKE money from one person who has more of it and then redistribute that money to someone who has less of it." Preposterous!
I could go on, but what difference would it make? I'll just end with this. If you're interested in living a better life, you have to vote for someone who will decrease the size of the government, not make it larger than it has ever been. Government is the most inefficient, least relational institution in culture. The smaller their tentacles, the better for EVERYONE. I promise.
I debated whether or not to post this with my name... but honestly, I'll own up to my thoughts. I'm certainly not towing a party line. Neither McCain nor Obama are working to decrease the intrusion of the government into our lives. There MUST be a better way. A reformation. Anyone in?
to pick on cole, that biden quote does not read the same to me.
first let me preface this with i am a socially and economically conservative atheist. that means i do believe the old republican credo of "out of my wallet, out of my bedroom." i am very opposed to socialism, the irs, and anything that legislates morality.
that quote was about changing the tax code to favor middle class families. meaning the will change the percentages on those "tax brackets" not a redistribution of wealth. they aren't going to take money out of your bank account, just change how withholding works.
both sides use misleading information.
the 700bil (put forth by a republican administration and only seeing opposition by house republicans) is a scary step towards socialism, but unfortunately since we left the gold scale under nixon we have to keep the credit market afloat.
just saying...
Hugs... You and I are on the same page.
Both sides are misleading. Both sides will say whatever it is they think they need to say to gain power.
I just think it's scary how people who are fed up with the governmental system turn to the government to fix the problem. The question isn't Obama or McCain. They approach the presidency with the same philosophy... How can I institute programs to make people feel good and keep me elected?
For example... gay marriage. One side says, "gay people shouldn't be allowed to get married." The other side says, "gay people should be able to be married." Who's asking the question, "Why is the government even involved with the marriage process?!" That's the important question. I'm looking for the candidate who is willing to ask that question on this - and hundreds of other issues - in order to restore liberty to the people.
We must be a generation who begins to rethink the role and scope of government if we want to see real CHANGE and have any HOPE for a better future.
If we place our HOPE in the government, we will be disappointed. Wait for the government to institute CHANGE, and it will be change we don't want. Let's rethink this whole system.
and here's a link to the actual Biden interview on ABC. I think it's more clear in context.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArJkzRYffec
couldnt said it any better cole.
Just wanted to chime in here as we are trying to put this event together.
The origins of this event began as a straight Obama campaign push. An idea that came from wanting to help in a bigger way. In researching this idea and meeting more of you, and hearing your thoughts, bigger things have emerged.
As we have been joining forces with different groups, and businesses, and setting this event in its cement, we have realized what has emerged as the heart of the event, is that it's about our demographic showing up as a strong voice and voting... and that is what is important here. Not WHO you're voting for.
Wether you're voting Independent, Green Party, Democrat, whatever, whatever. The point is Florida has been a big no show the last two elections from the 18-35 year olds, and it would be nice to change that this go round.
We can take the personal politics completely out of this event, and leave the campaigning on the side lines for all of you to debate and discuss. We can just really focus on the push for registration by the 6th, and for everyone to actually vote this election. We can make changes to the literature surrounding this event. It is in the infant planning stages and still just an idea and has not circulated or been released as a press release.
Great comments here so far, all well said, and very much appreciated.
"What's wrong with making this just a statement regarding energy independence and civic responsibility as opposed to the endorsing of a particular candidate? A commonality we all tend to share in the 407 bike community is our common belief in offsetting our dependence on the petro economy and resistance to the myopic energy policies put in place by the ruling class. Regardless, I plan on attending and I hope many of you who feel strongly about our countries energy policies will as well... "
We can leave it to the media to figure out why/what/and who everyone is voting for and just relish in the fact that so many people showed up to vote.
Edits will be made for the event. Again at the origins this began as an Obama event, that is why the endorsement was in place.
All the best - Community Organizers
We also wanted to say: That if you are voting early absentee ballot, or earlier in the day on the 4th we still want people to show the support and ride with people who are voting during the event on the 4th.
Thanks for the clarification and the update. Please continue to keep us in the loop regarding this event as details emerge...
BTW Cole, don't you ever feel that you can't speak your mind on here. We're all adults and appreciate/respect differing points of view. You would be surprised how many of us think along the same lines anyway... ;)
ez!
Good words, guys. I'm glad to know you and to be in a place where people are willing to listen to each other and have some respectful conversation.
Post a Comment