Well, it is clearly harder to have to take your thinking one step farther when you reside in a state like CA. Some of us have been doing "Tea Parties" here before they had a catchy name and caravans so to now be called "silly" when trying to engage others to see the entire picture is disengenuous to me.
I was fortunate enough to buy a home in Huntington Beach before I even knew that it was within THE most conservative precinct, within THE most conservative district, within THE most conservative county in the state.
But, you're right, statewide races require making real life, multi-dimensional, choices which people on this thread are unwilling or unable to address.