In addition to anything that we've done so far, we need to bring this issue before political candidates this year. All of us will have Congressional elections on the ballot. Some candidates will pay attention to letters and others won't. However, we need to let them know that our side of the issue is important. The reptile industry is important economically, and our freedoms are important as a matter of principle. Senate candidates are less likely to notice a few individual letters, but making our presence known to them has value as well.

To get more influence, we need to volunteer in political campaigns. We hate receiving political phone calls, so making them feels horrible. However, the parties remember the folks who do the dirty work. If you do these things, you're more likely to know elected officials or know people who would be willing to make a call on your behalf.

Finally, we need to start talking to people when they are running for local office. The regular-looking guy knocking on your door this fall to ask for your vote so that he can go to the state legislature or the city council is frustrated. He or she is frustrated because he's knocking on doors all day long and no one really wants to talk to him. He cares about the issues and the decisions being made, and he sees a steady stream of people who couldn't care less and are annoyed because he knocked on their door. If you speak respectfully and intelligently about these issues and show real interest instead of annoyed apathy, you have a chance to make a good impression. If he seems open to our position and you can help him, he will remember. The ones who are running for city council or state legislature today will often be the ones in Congress tomorrow. If we make a good impression now, we can start to mitigate problems later.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

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