1st Vice Chairman Announcement

Here is my letter that I sent out today to all the Orange County Republican Central Committee members announcing my intention to run for 1st Vice Chair of the party.

Dear friends & colleagues,

As the dust settles from last
weeks' election, it is now time to look ahead to the future of our
great party. I have spoken with many current and new members of the
committee about the direction the party needs to go in. The words of
encouragement to run for 1st Vice Chairman have been overwhelming. So
after some time thinking about this and in careful consideration with
my wife Lynn, I have decided that I will enter the race for 1st Vice
Chair of our party.

I realize that running against a longtime party activist and candidate
that has the blessing of the current chairman will be a daunting task,
but I believe our members deserve a choice of who they would like to
represent them as 1st Vice Chair on the Executive Committee.

First a little about myself for those who don't know me. I am a
native Californian and lifelong resident of the beautiful city of
Irvine. I have been married for nine years this Dec 1st to my awesome
wife Lynn. If you haven't had the chance to meet her yet, she is a
dead ringer for Sarah Palin. We actually met the night Bob Dole lost
to Bill Clinton in 1996 at the OC GOP election night venue at the Westin South Coast Plaza. Professionally speaking, I am a licensed Series 3 Broker. I am the owner and President of GAB Capital Corp which is a commodities broker - mostly in precious
metals like gold & silver and managed futures. Owning and running a small business
had always been a dream of mine and I am thankful every day that I am able to be my own boss.

My interest in politics goes back to my youth. My father owned a
construction business and he was always complaining about how
the government was too large and intrusive. I remember casting my
first vote ever for George HW Bush when I was 18 years old. As time
wore on and I settled myself and my family in Irvine, I started up my
own political blog at the urging of my neighbor here in Turtle Rock a
few blocks away, Hugh Hewitt. This was back in 2004. The name of my
blog is Powder Blue Report. It's got all my archived postings there
for all to see (www.powderbluereport.blogspot.com). For a time I
also did a stint writing for the local blog Red County. As my activism
grew, I became heavily involved here in Irvine with the local
Republican groups and most recently, with the various local Tea Party groups .
I have been the chairman now for two years of our
county chartered GOP group, the Irvine Republican Council. I was
elected to my first term on the Central Committee in June of 2008 and
was just re-elected again to my second term. As most of you know, I am
also involved in the local tea party organizations. The Tea Party
energy was the impetus that brought our party back to the majority in
the House and elected several new members to the U.S. Senate. We need to do everything we can to nurture and grow this energy for the upcoming presidential
campaign and all the other local races. We also need them to have a voice at the highest level in our local party. I will be that voice.

I am running for this position because I believe it's time for a
change in leadership of our local party. I wish to bring my leadership
skills and experience to the Executive Committee of the OCGOP. As a tea
party activist, I also wish to help the party enhance its image in the
community at large, especially with rank in file Republican voters - our
very important base. I look forward to discussing ways to move forward in
the future that will give members confidence in the committee.

I believe one of the most important jobs of 1st Vice Chair is to help
the Chairman and others represent the Party and raise funds on a
consistent basis so it can run smoothly. If elected I will be able to
tap my wide network of contacts to assist the party in doing just
that. The Chairman has a very hard job. It's up to the other leaders on the Executive Committee to help ease the burden where possible. I pledge to do this
if elected.

There are a lot of things we can improve upon to keep our party
great and be successful at the ballot box. Let's have a dialogue
about that. Please feel free to email or call me at any time. My number is
(949)677-5078. I look forward to speaking to each and every member before the
January meeting.

Sincerely,

Allan Bartlett