Posted on 04/17/2010 8:42:37 PM PDT by SmithL
It's traditionally a job of limited power for a politician, more of a handy springboard to something grander in California politics.
But this year's contest for lieutenant governor has taken on new meaning, at least among Republicans. It's become a proxy war inside the party over the kind of image the GOP should nurture to win in a state that's gone more Democratic and is more ethnically diverse than the GOP.
As the June primary to nominate candidates heats up, two top GOP rival candidates personify this internal friction.
Sen. Abel Maldonado of the coastal community of Santa Maria, 42, is the son of a Mexican immigrant who grew wealthy in agribusiness.
Maldonado's life story is not lost on GOP strategists – and some wealthy corporate donors – who say he could help repair the party's damaged relations with the state's growing and heavily Democratic Latino electorate.
Anti-illegal immigration rhetoric and some positions on issues have strained relations, they reason.
Maldonado supporters also say he is the only candidate capable of defeating a Democrat in November and becoming the first GOP lieutenant governor since 1979.
Sen. Sam Aanestad of Penn Valley is Maldonado's chief rival and a Grass Valley oral surgeon whose supporters say he's the only contender who is a true conservative and can tap into voters' anger over a state tax increase last year.
Hailing from the rural, conservative northeast of the state, the 63-year-old Aanestad is proud to say he's never voted for a tax increase – Maldonado did last year – and never voted to approve a state budget in the Democratic-majority Legislature except for one year when the state enjoyed a surplus.
The choice between Aanestad and Maldonado represents "a bigger argument inside the GOP than just in California," said Tony Quinn, a GOP analyst
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Anytime the Sacramento Bee endorses a candidate, it’s best to vote the opposite. The Bee is a socialist, leftist, Democrat-ass-kissing rag.
In CA the LT Gov doesn’t do anything. He does oversee some gov’t boards but that’s about it.
I’m arguing a leftist & he’s arguing that california votes against taxes but votes for spending in referenda. I want to find out how much spending is due to the state legislature & how much to referenda. I’d bet 99%+ from the state, but I’d like to know for sure.
Can anyone help?
He may be right. Californians love spending on projects near & dear to them. They also like taxes, as long as someone else is paying them.
Yeah, a lot of taxes and spending is done by referendum in California, but the ‘hands tied’ argument that your liberal friend is trying to pawn isn't worth anything. No referendum requires deficit spending, nor annual increases in state employee salary and benefits, nor does any referendum require continued negotiations with state workers represented by unions.
There's also far more effect on the state budget by judicial decree than ever will be reflected in all the referendums voted on by the people.
As for the referendums, almost all of them have circuit breakers built in that allow during budget emergencies for a cutting of funding, or a forgoing of issuing of bonds and starting projects until the budget is more stable, and pretty sure almost all of them can also be overridden in any budgetary year by a 2/3rds vote of the state assembly and senate.
Abel Moldynards is a traitor. I won’t vote for him in the primary or general election.
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