While we may not agree on St. Abel being the glorious one full of bipartisanship, Skelton and the Calitics editorial board do agree on one thing: Confirm Maldonado.
It would be particularly dumb for Democrats to dump all over a Republican who has fought with them in their foxhole. That would send a lousy message about the rewards of bipartisan cooperation.
The smart thing would be to confirm Maldonado. He may be too moderate to survive a GOP primary anyway.
Democrats could contest his vacated Senate seat in a special election. It's competitive. Win that and they're within one vote of a two-thirds majority. But Democrats aren't confident they can capture that Central Coast seat in a low-turnout special election in what could be a Republican year.
They should do the right thing anyway: Confirm a decent, qualified guy and avoid another self-inflicted wound. (LAT)
Not much to disagree with about the electoral stuff; it is an excellent opportunity. Not an easy campaign by any stretch of the imagination, but a winnable campaign.
As for "decent, qualified guy", well, I'm sure it's not hard to find a few million people who would argue with his scheming of the budget process to get his dream come true open primary measure.
Interestingly, Maldo sees this job as a cheerleader for Arnold. Kind of appropriate as he has been his mouthpiece in the Senate for a few years. |
