Time to confirm Maldonado

The Times has said it repeatedly: The job of lieutenant governor is not vital to the well-being of Californians. But for now there is such a post, it is vacant, and the governor has appointed the capable and moderate Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria to fill it. Now Assembly Democrats are trying to block him for reasons that are transparently partisan and self-serving. They should put the interests of the state ahead of their own Machiavellian strategizing and confirm Maldonado.

On paper, one might think that Democrats would embrace the former strawberry farmer turned mayor turned lawmaker. He’s a Republican, yes, but one with demonstrated ability to work across party lines. His presence in the top ranks of the state GOP puts a moderating and pragmatic face on a party that is otherwise increasingly ideological and intransigent, at least among its state elected representatives.

Legislative Democrats should be pleased to get Maldonado rather than a more dogmatic GOP nominee. They should be pleased to see the seat in his swing district opened up to possible Democratic capture.

But instead, the Democrats’ string-pullers apparently consider Maldonado a threat to their monopoly on a key constituency: Latinos. California’s plurality voter group and, soon, its majority, has historically cast its lot with Democrats, but there have been significant exceptions, especially in the Inland Empire, the Central Valley and, with Maldonado, the Central Coast. Democratic Party strategists worry that Latino voters will become less interested in political affiliation than in individual candidates, their positions, their abilities and their willingness to buck orders from key patrons -- in organized labor, for example.

Wake up, Democrats. Californians are already leaving both parties. Democrats can play the same game as their Republican counterparts, banishing all but the most ideologically pure candidates -- and consequently worsening the gridlock in Sacramento -- or they can take the high road, and in so doing may just find they have appealed to independent voters by demonstrating that they reward, rather than punish, moderates like Maldonado.

This page isn’t crazy about every Maldonado vote or position. We disagree emphatically with his stance against same-sex marriage, for example, and if the job he’s been nominated to were key to changing California marriage laws, we might well consider his position on the issue disqualifying.

But the job is lieutenant governor, for goodness’ sake. None of the reasons for keeping Maldonado out has anything to do with the best interests of the state. Assembly Democrats should drop the self-destructive political chess-playing and confirm him.