He has hammered McCain's more moderate position on immigration, which has helped him among Republicans in the primary but would work against him as a general election nominee.
"Romney fits in with only the very conservative Republicans here," Quinn said. "That's his base, and he's finally coalesced them. But he has absolutely no chance of expanding beyond that. The demographics of California don't agree with Romney."
More than anything, GOP hopes of having a competitive race here in the fall rest with the Democratic choice. Most see Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Republicans' favorite Democrat, for the unity she would impose among discontented Republicans.
Unity, GOP state Chairman Nehring said, "is defined as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Hillary Rodham Clinton running the federal government."
Obama is feared somewhat more by Republican strategists because of his appeal among the independent voters; he is seen as more likely than Clinton to deny independents to the Republican nominee, a move that would doom the GOP.
Democrats, however, look to begin the general election more thrilled with their nominee -- whoever it is -- than Republicans.
McCain was running radio ads in California on election day apologizing to Republicans for pushing immigration reform, a sign of the patching up he needs to do within the party.
Exit polls in California, meanwhile, showed that Democrats were overwhelmingly pleased at the prospect of either Obama or Clinton as the nominee -- regardless of which one they voted for.
The enthusiasm gap will make overcoming the Democratic registration advantage even harder.
As the primary election ended, however, Republicans were putting their faith in the roller-coaster nature of the campaign thus far.
"It's too early to tell, it really is," Nehring said. "Nothing about this campaign has been predictable."
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cathleen.decker@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
California voters weigh in
In exit polls, both Democrats and Republicans ranked the economy highest among the most important issues facing the country.
Democratic primary
Q: Which candidate is most qualified to be commander-in-chief?
Clinton:51%
Obama: 33%
Other: 16%
Q: Which candidate would be most likely to unite the country if elected president?
Obama: 48%
Clinton: 40%
Other: 12%
Q: Which of these issues is the most important facing the country?
