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It's nice to just say "Don't go to the ground. Keep ma-ai. Etc etc." This is very wise. In fact, my former judo instructor was very insistent that, outside the dojo, you don't go to the ground. "Sure, with your grappling skills, you can take care of the guy on top of you. But you can't do anything about his buddies that are about to stomp on your face."
The problem is, you don't intentionally go to the ground. If you're an aikido practicioner, and you end up on the ground, chances are you got there against your will. Saying "don't go to the ground" doesn't help the poor sap that finds himself on the ground.
The real life application of matwork is being able to get back on your feet as fast as you can. The ground game is a whole different beast, and if you're not familiar with it, getting back on your feet is going to prove very, very difficult.
Rather than simply speculating about the issue, which, in the end, is pretty useless (although I always find speculation quite fun), I urge those that haven't to get themselves into a judo/jujitsu/wrestling class a time or two and see what it's like, and then make a judgement.
As for aikido on the ground... I know people before have stated that after much practice in aikido and a ground art, they've found that the principles are the same, but as far as what an aikido practicioner acually practices and it's application on the mat... from my experience, if an arm is there, that slapping a wrist lock on someone is very effective. It's an illeigal technique in judo for a reason. Of course, if the guy knows you do aikido, the opportunity probably won't present itself.
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