In fairness to Whitman, the moderate-to-conservative voters in CA are spread out all over the state, in the suburbs and rural areas, forcing her to spend money just EVERYwhere, not just in big cities, etc.
In contrast, NYC is a pretty compact place.
According to the United States Census, the population of the State of California is four times greater than the population of New York City.
New York City Population: 8,214,426
United States Census Population: New York City
State of California Population: 36,961,664
United States Census Population: California