Californians have an interesting question to ponder following last week's elections: Why have Republicans taken total control in Washington at the very moment Democrats have total power in Sacramento? California, despite what others might think, is not just one more state. We have 12.1 percent of the U.S. population, 14 million more people than the next largest state, Texas. Our gross domestic product is, by some measures, ahead of that of France. A regional state – Connecticut, say, or Iowa or Louisiana – out of step with national trends is merely a curiosity, but California is no regional state. We...