Not that rationality has anything to do with this, but the GOP attack on CA really involves denial of plain facts. The state has problems — but not the ones conservatives claim 1/ https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/30/republicans-see-california-as-perfect-foil-as-fall-campaign-begins-1313190

CA policy turned left when Jerry Brown became governor in 2011. Conservatives predicted economic disaster, calling tax hikes "economic suicide." Not so much 2/

CA has also been an enthusiastic and effective adopter of Obamacare, sharply cutting its number of uninsured 3/

CA's biggest policy problem is housing unaffordability, which can be traced to NIMBYism and hence restrictive zoning. But those are exactly the policies Trump insists we keep, to preserve the Suburban Lifestyle Dream! 4/