John J. Pitney Jr. gives us some important facts to remember about California when considering why the GOP electoral wave did not sweep through the once Golden State.  It seems there's a pretty high beach wall here with an electorate comprised of a 13 point party identification gap favoring Democrats while, in the rest of the country, it's about an even split.  Moreover, he reminds us that Californians approve of the job that Obama has been doing by a 10 point margin while the rest of the country disapproves by a 9 point margin!  None of this is to say that California should be dismissed or written off . . . but it may suggest that it is something like a hot house flower in a greenhouse of strange makings.  I wonder if it will serve some purpose like the token and stubborn full-throated campus Marxist in the wake of the end of the Cold War?  Exhibit A in the case for what NOT to do? 

But for those of us who live here, this bit of otherwise sobering advice from Pitney, may be all the hope we have.