I still say that it was the departure of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan from american politics. They both proved powerful vote getters on the west coast.
Lets look at history...Nixon was Eisenhower's vice president for two terms. They carried CA twice. Nixon lost to Kennedy in 1960, but he swept the west coast. Nixon ran again in 1968 and again won most of the west coast. He swept it again in 1972. Reagan swept the west coast in both 1980 and 1984. He probably helped swing California into the winning column in 1988. Then after 1988, the west coast has become very democratic.
I think that Reagan did not prove to be as effective of a campaigner in 1992 because, though people loved him, they would not let him influence their vote as much as they had in the past. Just my opinion.
There's been a major change in demographics. Don't forget that.
