UPDATE: 7am – I just got off of the phone with State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, who wanted to make sure that it was clear that his priorities in terms of State Senate races are (1) Defend Jeff Denham in the recall, (2) Re-elect Abel Maldonado, (3) Elect Tony Strickland, (4) Elect Greg Aghazarian. I agree with #1 above although my commentary below is about priorities for the Fall (after the recall is resolved). Obviously I am advocating that Ackerman and his successor change their order of priority – Flash.
State Senator Abel Maldonado is a pleasant man. I don’t speak with him to frequently — as he is from the Central Coast and I am from Orange County, and he works in the State Capitol, a place that I admit I do not frequent as often as I should — but when I do talk to him there, I walk away 
saying to myself, "He’s a nice guy."
Well, last Summer, in the budget stand-off between Democrats and Republicans, he wasn’t so nice.
While all of his GOP colleagues were in a fox-hole, trying to defend California against an unrealistic budget that clearly spent way too much money, Abel abandoned his colleagues, and then started firing shots back at them.
At the time, it was a stunning revelation of a total lack of team-spirit. After all, he was a willing participant in an agreement by Senate Republicans that they will all hold together against the immense pressure from all of the special interests groups that desperately wanted the bloated budget to become law. The agreement — a vote, actually, taken in the caucus — that until a majority of Senate Republicans were convinced that the budget was worthy of GOP support, no Republicans would vote for it.
So this rather pleasant and nice man did something very un-pleasant and un-nice — he broke his commitment, and supported was history has now shown to be a terrible budget.
Where is his regret for what he did? I have seen nothing of the sort.
This year, Senator Maldonado is up for re-election in what is supposed to be a very competitive district. While Democrats in Sacramento may be appreciative of his vote for the budget, I doubt that this will give them enough incentive to decide not to try and win this seat.
So now the same Abel Maldonado who jumped out of the GOP fox-hole during the most significant attempt at GOP legislative solidarity in many, many years needs the help of Republicans to keep his office.
I’m not saying that keeping Maldonado in the State Senate wouldn’t be better than having a Democrat. Not at all.
The single most important priority for the Republican Party in next year’s legislative elections is maintaining our ability to leverage the state’s two-thirds vote requirements to pass a budget and increase taxes to protect Californians from a Democrat-controlled legislature hell-bent on increasing the size and scope of state government.
This fall Senate Republicans are going to have to prioritize their efforts. Since there are only a few competitive Senate seats,
Therefore, our first priority must be to make sure that electing Tony Strickland in the Coastal District just to the south of Abel. There is no doubt that Strickland, who shares the ideological conviction of McClintock, would hold tight against the pressures of feeding the government machine. Strickland also understands the concept of being on a team, and working together towards a common goal.
After that, our second priority should be electing Greg Aghazarian to the State Senate. It is seat where we have a chance to pick up a Republican vote as Democrat Michael Machado is term-limited out. If we win the seat, we will have another Republican who understands what it means to be a part of a team, and on whom we can count on to "hang tight" with his GOP colleagues.
Finally, our third priority should be sending funds and volunteers to help Maldonado in his re-election. Look, despite my frustration and that of many others about his shameful conduct during last year’s budget battle, Maldonado on his worst day is still better than any Democrat.
But I think what is still missing here is Abel’s apology? You know, Abel, it turns out that all of your Republican colleagues in the Senate were right. Governor Schwarzenegger and the Democrats were wrong. It was a bad budget, that spends more than the state takes in. I get your electronic newsletters that you send to your constituents. That would be an outstanding vehicle with which to express any thoughts looking back, now, on your AYE vote for last Summer’s budget.
In closing, I am not saying that Abel Maldonado’s re-election to the Senate shouldn’t happen, or that it shouldn’t be an important goal for Senate Republicans or the California Republican Party. But in a world of limited resources, those making "resource allocation" decisions ultimately have to prioritize. And our first priority as a Party must be to protect a solid group of folks willing to make up that 1/3+1 to block bad budgets, bad borrowing, and tax increases.
Remember, sometimes nice guys do finish last. But they don’t have to.
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