The best of John Burton, the former legislator and now California Democratic Party chairman, is his commitment to fighting for the poorest and the neediest.
The worst of John Burton is the sort of tribal partisan nonsense he recently offered up to the San Francisco Chronicle in explaining why he’s against confirming Lt. Gov-designate Abel Maldonado. Burton doesn’t want Maldonado confirmed no matter what. “Why give his seat to another party?” he recently told the San Francisco Chronicle. He added a few other partisan swipes — “There’s a reason why some people are Democrats, and some are Republicans. And Democrats don’t vote for Republicans” – and a blast at the notion of bipartisan compromise — “The only thing in the middle of the road is a yellow stripe and a dead skunk.”
Well, a yellow stripe, a dead skunk and the independent California voters who decide statewide elections.
Burton’s thinking runs contrary to the interests of his own party.
As progressives at the netroots organization Courage Campaign and the blog Calitics have pointed out, confirming Maldonado would be smart. The lieutenant governorship is a largely meaningless position (Courage correctly pointed out that it’s a demotion for a state senator). And by confirming Maldonado, Democrats open up a competitive Senate seat they can win, putting them one vote short of the two-thirds they need in the Senate. You need two-thirds to govern this state. Burton, by opposing Maldonado, is looking the gift horse in the mouth.
His comments are a reminder of this truth about life and politics: progress is too important to be left to the progressives.