Considering who got elected in the most recent election cycle, can you imagine the nutjob that would get elected without California's large block of electoral votes anchoring the country's politics at least somewhat left? Imagine a country where Florida and Ohio are solidly blue and the Republicans still win national elections. Now imagine having to live next to that country and share a 1000-ish-mile border. Now imagine they have one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons and no one pushing them to protect the environment in any way, shape or form.

Calexit gets scary in a hurry, even if there's no fight over letting California go.