One of my better "insider sources" tells me that the Governor is going to appoint State Senator Abel Maldonado (? – Santa Maria) to be the state’s next Lt. Governor.
Somebody get me a barf bag.
Talk about exactly what California, and the Republican Party don’t need.
Abel Maldonado, while I pleasant enough guy in the right circumstances, is what we call a "Xenomorph" — that which changes shape due to external influence.
At a time when our state and my party need leaders who are willing to stand tall against the advance of progressivism and the rise of the (very expensive) administrative state — Maldonado doesn’t stand tall for anything. In fact, he may be the perfect pick for this Governor as both continually demonstrate positioning on issues in the most erratic manner. Which is to say that they have no consistency.
If Maldo’s name is put forward by the Governor, I guess we can look for the silver lining. The first of which is that Maldonado could be rejected by the Senate (if I were in the Senate, I wouldn’t be inclined to vote to confirm him — except maybe just to get him out of the legislature). The second is that if he is confirmed, the probable Republican candidate for his seat would be Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee who, while more moderate than me on some issues, at least thinks that tax increases are a bad idea. He also is a man of integrity, which contrasts him with Maldonado.
I guess we’ll see what happens, but the fact that Maldonado is even being discussed for this position highlights the lack of importance that it plays in California.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
If he gets confirmed, is Andrea Seastrand still around? Maybe we could drag her out of retirement to run in the special election.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have to believe the Democrats will want to target this district where they out number the GOP in terms of Voter Registration numbers. All they need to do is run a strong candidate, win, and then target SD 12 next year–then they will have their 2/3 majority in the Senate.
Seastrand and Blakeley are names to consider, perhaps even Brooks Firestone–if he is interested in going back to Sacramento.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
That is what I heard on the left leaning blogs, they want their 2/3rds in the senate so the Republicans would be irrelevant, but maybe that would be a motivator for the Republicans to have more electable candidates so they could get a MAJORITY 21+ members.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Quid Pro Quo ? Is this the payoff for Maldy casting his vote for Props 1 A-E ?