The mood is not yet reminiscent of 2000-style euphoria or 2008-style despair.

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Kevin Starr, California's leading historian, points out that the mood in the state is reminiscent of the aftermath of the first and second world wars, when government was calmly regarded as a useful problem-solver and ideology was so muted that, in 1947, Earl Warren won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for the governorship.

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It was classic Obama, reminiscent of his first run for President, when he used his skill with words to create a mood.

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