Naming an entity after a political leader will always result in controversy, I bet there are also some sailors on the H.W.Bush, not happy with her name, but doing their duty in a professional way.
So I see the whole thing as a sign of society's plurality. Chavez represents political ideals, shared by many others, part of America's political spectrum. Like AVG and others said here: everyone's entitled to their opinion, and regarding Chavez as an important man is one. You may not like his work, but he was an American who stood inside the constitutional boundaries - that's why for example a "USS Farrakhan" would be insane and should be sunk at once
@vienna: Just curious: Are you against the naming of the ship for political reasons, as in you don't agree with his politics, or do you think his national impact was not important enough to name a US ship after him rather than a "West Coast Guard" vessel?
btw: there is one holiday for a civilian leader: MLK day - who certainly had a bigger national importance than Chavez, not too sure about creating a state holiday in CA for the latter; you guys still have a big and importnat agricultural industry.
a little desailing of the thread: I think his stance on illegal immigration is a pragmatic position, which unfortunately seems to be not too common anymore. The position of the thinking left, from the real world rather the position of middle-class college kids who are not directly affected by illegals as they don't compete for jobs with them. The stance that illegals not only negatively affect their own (non existant) labor rights, but also the ones of others, and thus hamper any efforts to change labor conditions for the better, is something I pretty much agree upon.