The nominations have already been made. The two candidates to be the next Chairman of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee are Claudia Bermudez of Alameda, and Jerry Salcido of Fremont.
The former Chair, Karen Wind of Pleasanton, resigned back in March after only serving three months as the elected Chair. The committee has already held one election between Bermudez and Salcido, back on May 19th, which ended in a 16-16 tie vote.
Next Tuesday, at the monthly meeting the final vote will be held and a new Chairman will be elected to lead the Central Committee for the remainder of the 2009-2010 term. At this point it’s any body’s call. While Jerry Salcido, 31, is a relative new-comer to local politics, Bermudez is not. Her name may be recognizable to some Bay Area Republicans since she has already ran, and lost badly in two separate local races, one for Congress in 2004 and the other for State Senate in 2008.
In both campaigns Bermudez was expected to lose and lose she did; compiling only 12% of the vote in the election against Democratic Congresswomen Barbara Lee, and only 15% against Democratic State Senator, Loni Hancock. Republican voter registration numbers were nearly identical to the percentage of the vote that Bermudez received in both of her elections, showing that Bermudez’s campaigns have failed to appeal to the all important Decline to State demographic, which is crucial for Republican success in any election.
Will Bermudez, 56, finally reach the winner’s circle in her bid to become the next Chair of the Alameda County GOP? Assistant Treasurer, David LaTour, an Elected Member from Alameda County’s largest Assembly District (AD-18) expressed some doubt about Bermudez’s leadership abilities. “To lead, you need to be present! Claudia Bermudez made no effort to attend committee meetings up until she was convinced to run for Chair. Before that she was a no-show. Her candidacy was a surprise to many of the members on the committee. The truth is, we need a leader that’s there with us, who’s heart is in it because we have a lot of work to do.”
LaTour has endorsed Salcido who he says, “has shown the commitment as well as the energy that we need in the GOP now more than ever.” Salcido has also received endorsements from the majority of the leadership on the Executive Committee, which includes the Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, along with LaTour. It would appear that Salcido won’t have a problem fitting in if he were to be elected as the new Chairman.
But what about Bermudez? Can she unite a divided committee where legal actions are more common than political action? According to Parliamentarian, Dick Spees she can. In his endorsement email to fellow committee members, Spees wrote, ”We are fortunate to have someone of her stature, experience and proven ability…” Some of the other members, however, were unaware of Bermudez and her hidden talents due to her lack of involvement with the committee ever since she assumed office as an Ex-Officio Member back in July of 2008. “I met Claudia [Bermudez] through the pdf file that she emailed to the committee announcing her candidacy for Chair. Before that, I knew nothing of her.” said 15th Assembly District Elected Member, Casey Fargo, who also supports Salcido for Chairman.
Dick Spees was vague, at best, in describing Bermudez in his endorsement email to fellow committee members. One can only question the legitimacy of a claim that touts Bermudez as someone with “experience” and “proven ability” when taking a look at the facts of the matter. Spees, however, is not the type to let the facts get into the way when making political decisions, or endorsements for that matter. Reflecting on Bermudez’s track record, it would appear that she is experienced in loosing local elections in landslides, and has demonstrated a proven ability to be consistent in doing so.
Is this more of what Alameda County Republicans need, repeats of 2006 and 2008 where Republicans put their names on the ballot only to run empty campaigns? Depends on who you ask. Local Democrats may be supportive of the lack of competition? They have already shown that they have Bermudez’s number dialed in, which is an undeniable fact that can’t be ignored, even by left-of-center Republican In Name Only, Dick Spees, who in the past has officially endorsedDemocratic Congresswomen Barbara Lee, who was responsible for crushing Bermudez back in 2004.
For real conservatives, this should be tough to swallow. What kind of Republican endorses Barbara Lee? Well, the same type of Republican that endorses Bermudez of course! It should be considered to be a major problem in the Party when there are Republican leaders that are willing to sacrifice principle to play pal-around with the elected majority in an effort to be popular? Is it any wonder that the GOP is in such bad shape? The Party is in desperate need of principled leaders, not followers looking to be Democrat-lite!
Ask Bermudez a simple question, and she’ll recite her favorite talking-point about her late father Enrique Bermudez, who was a military official under the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua that would later be installed by the CIA as the Contras’ top military (puppet) commander of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN). Bermudez will tell you that her father was a key figure during the fight in the United States-led foreign interventionist nation-building excercise against Nicaragua’s Sandinista Marxist government but, she might fail to mention his involvement with drug smuggling into the United States in order to finance the anti-Sandinista operations back at home in Nicaragua.
In fact, Enrique Bermudez, according to sworn testimony, recruited Los Angeles drug kingpin Danilo Blandon, a Contra middleman, that sold cocaine to South-Central’s crack dealers in late 1981 to raise money in California for the Contras.
Don’t ask Bermudez too many direct questions though, you might not get a straight answer, if any answer at all. According to Project Vote Smart: “Ms. Claudia Bermudez repeatedly refused to provide any responses to citizens on issues through the 2004 National Political Awareness Test” during her first campaign against Lee.
Apparently, “Bermudez refused to provide this information when asked to do so by: Major News Organizations and key national leaders of both Parties including, Republican Senator John McCain.” If Senator McCain received the cold shoulder from Bermudez, what are we to expect? Well, not much different. After numerous attempts for the past four days, we were unable to get Bermudez to return our telephone calls for comment.
Who is Claudia Bermudez? Bermudez is Disappointment!
I guess some things should never be expected to change. When asked about her fund raising plan by a voting member at the May 19th meeting, Bermudez chose not to reveal her top-secret plan at that time, but did suggest that she had one ready. Eyes rolled as a “that figures” type of feeling circulated throughout the room.
Alameda County Republicans might want to get comfortable with the silent treatment from a non-responsive, do-nothing leader if Bermudez were to win Tuesday’s election. She seems to represent business as usual in the Party, and shows that the GOP doesn’t really have any new blood with any new ideas, just some more of the same ‘ol same. And we all know… that just isn’t going to cut it!
Who is Claudia Bermudez? A better question might be, Who Cares Who Claudia Bermudez Is? We suspect that the smart money is on Republican Jerry Salcido to pull out the big win in a close election that has the possibility of not only sending a defeated Bermudez into retirement once and for all, but maybe even causing a few R.I.N.O.s to go along with her. The Alameda County Republican Central Committee would be a better place, and undoubtedly more conservative.
Let the re-building begin!
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Michael, Yes it was Dick Spees who proposed the “Code of Conduct” regulations at the meeting. What he plans to do is get the committee to pass the proposal (Ex post facto), so he can bring a censure resolution against me for authoring the Who Is Claudia Bermudez article. His intent is to have me removed as Vice Chairman. lol
Regarding your second question… Some of the members believe our committee meetings are closed to the public, however, I reject that notion and believe that the only way we will grow our numbers is to become the Party of the people. And a Party of the people is inclusive and open to the public. Being open to only registered Republicans (like they say) sure makes it hard to reach out to registered voters from other Parties and get them to join us.
I say open to the public is the best way to grow the Party! Others want a “show me your papers” Republican Party, which is not exactly rolling out the welcome mat and will only serve to maintain (if that) our numbers.
One other thing: Was Dick Spees the member that proposed the ‘rules of conduct’? I thought that republicans were against regulations? I laughed when he said that there needed to be rules set in place to govern how members communicate with one another.
Why was he (and that other lady) having a problem with the meetings being open to the public? If the republican party excluded people from attending meetings, I don’t believe that would be good for community relations.
Those people need to wake up, and get with the program. I’m glad their side lost!
Claudia Bermudez didn’t seem to happy about the outcome of the election last night. During her speech, she was heated! I think this article had something to do with that, but I’m not 100% sure.
Claudia Bermudez talked more about the Campaign For Liberty than what she planned to do for the Alameda GOP. She attacked her competition by suggesting that he authored articles that were posted on a website that advocates non-Republican views and positions. She specifically mentioned the Campaign For Liberty’s Mission Statement, which reads:
“Our mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a non-interventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.”
Jerry Salcido’s article: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=141
Congratulations Jerry!
Jerry Salcido Defeats Claudia Bermudez in Narrow 19-16 victory at a packed Alameda GOP HQ. Congratulations to Mr. Salcido!
I am definitely voting for Jerry after reading this article. It sounds like Claudia is just a politician who’s promises are always empty
This is a very informative article. It is interesting that Claudia has, and is, attempting to use her father’s accomplishments as her own. All the while she is part of the Hispanic caucus; which supports a great many communist planks and is supporting Sotomayor for supreme court justice. This is the the Judge that has said in so many words that the bench is for legislating because the legislative branch is too slow.
It’s time to make a responsible choice for the future of this county, state and country and vote for Jerry Salcido for chairman.
May I ask a question about the ACRP Bylaws? Do they permit an ex-officio member eligible to run for (and hold) an executive office, including Chairman?
Since Ms. Bermudez garnered so few votes in her previous elections and was not elected at all to your central committee, her becoming Chairman would seem to betray the representative voting process. Of course, this wouldn’t the only time such has happened this year.
What I don’t understand is if Ms. Bermudez has missed so many meetings, why is ACRP even considering her for Chair? Per California Election Code section 7411 paragraph (b), you instead should be considering her removal from the Committee:
7411. (a) Any member of a committee, other than an ex officio
member, who misses four regularly called meetings within one 12-month
period shall be removed from the committee concerned, unless his or
her absence is caused by illness or temporary absence from the county
on the date of the meeting.
(b) A committee may, in its sole discretion and in accordance with
its bylaws, remove a member who misses four or more regularly called
meetings within one 12-month period, regardless of the reasons for
the absences.
I have reviewed the information used by Walter Stanley in this article. All of the information is verifiable by anyone with a computer and a brain. Yet, those who don’t like seeing all the facts regarding Claudia Bermudez and her family’s legacy in one place, instead of conveniently spread across the internet on many different sites ( http://blackvoternet.com/lee/claudiabermudez.htm ), have resorted to calling Walter a racist. What benighted people. Accusing Walter of being racist is an extremely ignorant statement. Water has a very culturally diverse group of people around him, both family and friends. I think that is all that needs to be said regarding that unfounded accusation.
I would like to comment on my own personal experience with Claudia Bermudez. First let me reference a quote from the above article, “Alameda County Republicans might want to get comfortable with the silent treatment from a non-responsive, do-nothing leader if Bermudez were to win Tuesday’s election.” I believe this is an absolutely a true statement. My experience with Bermudez was exactly this. I called Bermudez a week ago and left a message that I had some questions regarding her candidacy for Chairman. As of today I have not received a return phone call or email from Bermudez. So, who does Bermudez represent? I don’t feel like it’s me, an elected member of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee.
I am endorsing Jerry Salcido for Chairman, along with all the other members of the 15th Assembly District, because he is reachable and accessible to all the committee members not just the ones he chooses to align himself with, like the opposition is doing.
I fully support Mr. Salcido’s bid for the chairman of the county party for many reasons; the simplest of them all is that he bothered to attend our meetings before he felt there was something to gain from it.
Suddenly Mrs. Burmedez seems interested in our affairs now that she stands to gain something, which is not exactly the kind of character I look for in a leader.
I find it troubling that Mr. Spees endorsed a Congressional Democrat with such extreme liberal political leanings. Why doesn’t Mr. Spees just re-register as a Democrat? He sounds like he would fit right in with the lefties.
As far as Ms. Bermudez goes; not being responsive to the public won’t get her very far in politics, as she has already demonstrated. Being 56 years old she might get a little bit tired when it comes time to walk precincts for Republican candidates in 2010.
Mr. Spees at 105 yrs old is a has-been, and Ms. Bermudez is a never-will-be! Both are bad for the G.O.P. Having Mr. Spees’s endorsement gives me enough information to form an opinion about Ms. Bermudez, which I have to say is not very good at all!
As an Alameda Co. resident, I would stress voting for Mr. Salcido.
Claudia is worst than a RINO. She’s a Trojan Horse. She is a spokeswoman for the Hispanic Caucus which has a long history of supporting increased immigration and Amnesty. If anyone is going to put the final nail in the coffin of the GOP, it would be her! Good choice Dick Spees!!!
I trust Salcido will do a good job of leading the county party . . . moving forward in the right direction.
The good news is that most of these people are fossils. It’s only a matter of time before they are forced into retirement…..
The RINOs in Alameda County are almost as pathetic as the RINOs leading the CRP. It’s time for the Barbara Lee wing of the Republican Party to hit the road and take their fake neo-con candidates with them. The Bush era is over!
Any Republican who endorses Barabara Lee is no Republican to listen to.
We Republicans need to be the party of the Constitution protecting our God given freedoms; and Jerry Salcido seems to be the man who can lead the charge.
Thanks for the headsup Rhino Hunter!
Hey Edi, I’m surprised that you didn’t use the played-out line that “Politics is the most expensive form of entertainment my money is forced to buy.” It must have been hard for you to resist your repetitive habit.
Regarding the comment that you did make… I disagree. The Republican Party simply needs to govern like conservatives, and respect the Constitution. That’s the recipe for success. There is no need to change platform positions, as this is not the problem. The problem is that when given the chance Republicans let the people down. This wasn’t because they weren’t Democrat enough, and definitely not because they were too conservative. It was because they tossed fiscal responsibility to the side in an effort to obtain a little so-called temporary security with the irresponsible War on Terror. We as Republicans should know that there is nothing conservative about war, regardless of if it’s declared or undeclared. Lives are lost and money is wasted. And why, because we are to believe that America is fighting for Iraqi and Afghani freedom? No! I say that we should mind our own business and focus on the restoring the freedoms that we have lost here at home.
Republican positions on foreign policy should be conservative. We need to stay out of entangling alliances with other countries. We need to advocate smaller-government and champion the free market! We need to secure our borders, not other countries’ borders. We should manage budgets, how we would our own, in that we have to get spending under control. We lost points with our base because we have acted like tax & spend liberals. We failed to cut wasteful programs and decided to become a part of the problem.
Our economic policy should offer something other than what the Democrats are selling us. During the Presidential campaign, McCain was for the bailouts, along with Obama. There was no difference between the two candidates. We should all know that if a Democrat runs against a Democrat in Republican clothing, the real Democrat wins just about every time.
Jerry Salcido, though relatively young, has solid Republican credentials, having served as the legal counsel to the California Homeschooling Network in their successful action to prevent the California Department of Education (CDE) from requiring that all parents homeschooling their children have teaching credentials.
He also has written extensively about the dangers of ever-expanding government, not only to our financial well-being, but its threat to our basic liberties.
He will make an excellent chairman who can bring much needed unitiy to the Alameda County Republican Party.
All this talk about this person or that person to revitalize the Republican Party, makes me sort of laugh. The fundamental problem with the RP is that its positions, policies, standards, etc. are out of favor with the majority of the people here. Until the RP changes its positions, it does not matter much which extremist you pick to be the spokesperson. People do not want the package that comes with the Republican Party.
Another child of a Reagan crony parachuting into a local election as the annointed favorite of the CRP leadership? Old chits being called in?
At least David Harmer’s childhood story of eating from the same jellybean jar as the Gipper is sort of cute. As to Claudia…well, you better stop with the questions while you’re ahead Walter. You know that I died of suicide by multiple gunshots to the head, don’t you?
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