OK. Where have they been all these years? The answer is OUTVOTED! California was turned into a socialist grab bag and the conservatives didn't stop it because they did not have the votes.
No, no, no and once again NO!
Perception, both in and out of the state, has made that a reality. It is simply UNTRUE. CA is actually a conservative state, but since both sides have taken your stance to be gospel-it has indeed become a socialists grab bag. The CA Republican is a laughingstock. They lose because they think they will find votes in the "center" whatever the heck that is. They dither, they talk out of both sides of their mouths, or they simply don't articulate the conservative viewpoint. Can anyone say Ahnold Buffet? In the rest of the state, outside of San Fran, this suppresses the Independent conservative vote. "Why vote at all?" so many say.
But the proof in the pudding is in the ballot initiatives. No double talking, no trust in a candidate, no BS. Just Law. Take a good long look at our most recent ballot initiatives, and you tell me-do conservatives not have votes, or do RINOs not have votes?
1994 - Proposition #184: Three-strikes, life imprisonment for repeat felons.
1994 - Proposition #187: Cut off state funds for Illegal Aliens.
1996 - Proposition #209: Ended statewide Affirmative Action
1998 - Proposition #227: Ended bilingual education
2000 - Proposition #22: Defined marriage as one man - one woman.