The paradox of the California vote

[buritobr]

California used to vote Republican in the presidential elections during the age of the counterculture.

California votes Democratic in the presidential elections since the 1990s, during the age of the high tech business.

[buritobr]

Dole 1996 and Bush Jr. 2000 & 2004 won San Diego County.
Los Angeles County is a better bellwheter. It voted against the state only in 1976 and 1988.
Obama won San Diego in 2008 and 2012, but this county is still much more Republican than the average of the state.
Some northern counties are anti-bellwheter. They were Democratic in the past and Republican in the present.

[buritobr]

Interesting. I looked at the map now. I saw that altough Alpine and Plumas are close to each other, they vote opposite. Except during the transition years, when both voted Republican.

[buritobr]

Most of the counties in California won by McCain and Romney were won by Stevenson

[buritobr]

Difference to the national margin

1948: R+4.04%
1952: R+3.71%
1956: D+4.29%
1960: R+0.71%
1964: R+4.26%
1968: R+2.38%
1972: D+9.69%
1976: R+3.84%
1980: R+7.04%
1984: D+1.97%
1988: D+4.16%
1992: D+7.83%
1996: D+4.37%
2000: D+11.28%
2004: D+12.41%
2008: D+16.74%
2012: D+19.23%

California's Cold War Republicanism is greatly exaggerated on this forum. Let's look at the percentages from this era:

1952
Democratic: 42.3
Republican: 56.8

1956
Democratic: 44.3
Republican: 55.4

1960
Democratic: 49.6
Republican: 50.1

1964
Democratic: 59.1
Republican: 40.8

1968
Democratic: 44.7
Republican: 47.8

1972
Democratic: 41.5
Republican: 55.0

1976
Democratic: 47.6
Republican: 49.3

1980
Democratic: 35.9
Republican: 52.7

1984
Democratic: 41.3
Republican: 57.5

1988
Democratic: 47.6
Republican: 51.1

So, as we can see, there was always a sizable Democratic vote in California except when John Anderson took some former Carter supporters in 1980.

[buritobr]

Comparing California Counties to US States according to the vote

San Francisco = Massachusetts
Los Angeles = New York
Orange = Utah
Plumas = Georgia
Alpine = New Hampshire
San Diego = Nevada