Fox and Hounds Daily’s Black Bart Award for 2009
Fox and Hounds Daily’s Black Bart Award as Californian of the Year in Politics goes to: Abel Maldonado.
He was named by all three of our nominators as someone whose impact was felt in the California political world.
As stated earlier in the week, Maldonado’s wheeling and dealing on the state budget ended with a vote to raise taxes, force a special election in May, propose a major policy change with the open-primary measure in the coming June 2010 election, and moved the debate on how California should be governed. His actions, along with his nomination for Lt. Governor, have set off much maneuvering in Sacramento. Whether or not you approved of the senator’s positions, his impact on the state political scene cannot be ignored.
We decided to name the Californian of the Year Award after gentleman highwayman Black Bart, a California original. He mixed a bit of larceny, artistry, good manners with character to push-back when he thought the system was working against him as exemplified by his famous poem left at the scene of his first stagecoach holdup: