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Your (acting) governor in action

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Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado sure seems to enjoy being acting governor of California while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tours Asia on a trade mission.

On Twitter and in a barrage a press releases and breathless updates, he and his staff can hardly contain themselves.

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After the explosion and fire in San Bruno on Thursday night, Maldonado declared a state of emergency and rushed to the scene. There, “he has spent 16 hours personally coordinating needs of locals with the state,” spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said in an e-mail to reporters.

“He nor his staff have slept a wink,” the Fulkerson communique states.

Maldonado has served as consoler-in-chief (Fulkerson touted that Maldonado “has been completely immersed with the people of San Bruno -- he’s been offering reassurance and compassion and this event has impacted him deeply.”)

And he has briefed the commander-in-chief, President Obama (Fulkerson noted it was “a lengthy, productive phone call.”) He even got some backup -- via Twitter -- from Schwarzenegger who wrote from Asia.

‘Got briefed on San Bruno emergency by LtGov @abelmaldonado. Glad I left the state in good hands,’ Schwarzenegger wrote from his iPhone.

Maldonado has been aggressively Tweeting himself, covering everything from the gas pipe explosion to his of signing of legislation to infuse federal funds into California’s schools.

And there’s more. Next week, Maldonado is hoping to sign some local government reform measures in front of Bell City Hall.

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Somehow, the Santa Maria Republican found the time to also substitute for Schwarzenegger in the governor’s weekly YouTube address. A gesticulating and fist-pumping Maldonado delivered the speech with gusto.

“While [Schwarzenegger] is out of state, you can expect that I will continue to expedite any project that may come before us,” Maldonado said into the camera. “I am proud to work in partnership as an executive team here on the first floor.”

He most certainly is.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher

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