Can a Republican ever win California again?

[Sbane]

California politics is dominated by a diverse, largely urban electorate. The California GOP, however, has boxed itself in to the rural parts of the state and the exurbs of places like the Inland Empire, east San Diego County, the Central Valley, etc.

There are a lot of people in my area (Silicon Valley) who would be willing to vote for someone like Tom Campbell again. But the CA GOP is just too far right for most of us.

I've heard that Campbell is a social liberal and fiscal conservative; is that true, or is it an over-simplification?  For instance, is he opposed to the Californian regulatory regime (environmental or labor) or is he really a fiscal moderate who tries not to step on the toes of entrenched Californian interests groups? 

He is certainly against labor interests, especially the public unions, but I am not sure about the environment. My guess would be that he is against over regulation while still protecting public lands (though maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part). He really is fiscally conservative though, but pretty socially liberal. And that doesn't sit well with the Republican base here. There aren't a lot of moderate Republicans here like you might see back east or even in parts of the midwest. They are just completely out of touch with the rest of the state. And the Republican party could be headed towards that in the country at large.....we shall see.

[Sbane]

No, because the Cali of 2011 is radically different from that of the 70's-80's. From what I see and understand CA has experienced a huge infusion of "robot" Democratic voters since them i.e. those would overwhelmingly vote Dem under all  circumstances like Blacks/Hispanics, left-wing whites, gay's, etc.

Additionally, as a symptom of this state political influence  it can be seen seems to have shifted away from Republican leaning or moderate conservative parts of SoCal like Orange county to more left of center parts of the state like outlying areas of SF. Furthermore, traditionally heavily Republican areas of CA like San Diego and the more inland areas have seen their voting power and influence diluted in recent years by demographic changes.

California was probably going to lurch hard left in the 1990's regardless if the Pubbies moved Right or not based on what I've seen and read.

Expect CA to become as Democratic on all level's of government as say Maryland in the coming years.

Republicans would be be better of spending their time and money in states like Nevada, Oregon, or Washington if they want to make inroads out West.

No, the people who are the median voters in California are not "robot" voters. Texas and a lot of the south are full of these types of "robot" republican voters who will vote against their self interest. The median voters  in California reside in areas like the silicon valley and the west side of la and the beach cities. They can be persuaded to vote republican but can't as long as the republican party keeps pandering to the "robots" in the south.