Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher has generated shock and sniggering from his proposal to break California into two states—a coastal state that includes most of the state’s populous and liberal areas and an inland state that’s mostly rural and conservative. Gallagher lives in a small community in the Sacramento Valley, so it’s clear where his loyalties would lie.

The longshot idea is a response to California Democrats’ initiative plan to redistrict the state in a way that picks up a few more Democratic seats, which is a response to Texas’ plan to do something similar. In a country where lawmakers behave in such a nakedly partisan way, it’s hard to consider Gallagher’s plan any worse.

It’s really a thought experiment. The Democratic Legislature will never approve it, Californ

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