True, his memo was written the day after November’s dual losses, when Miller and his team failed to defeat Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure and also failed to supersede it with one of their own. And Miller has in the past criticized the party, so insiders might not find his comments startling.

But they remain a bleak, and now public, assessment for the state party.

“Over the last two decades, California’s working class has slowly migrated out of the state and Latino and women voters are completely disenfranchised with the Republican Party. There are only a few pockets of conservative voters left in the state and they are only able to help carry the day for Republicans in ultra-low turnout elections on issues where campaign spending is at parity or to the Republican advantage, and where the Democratic and union grass-roots apparatus is not activated,” Miller’s memo said.

“There is no good way to sugarcoat this. … The Republican label is anathema to younger voters, women and Latinos — growing voter blocs with real significance to future elections.”

“We are going to be on permanent defense in California for the foreseeable future,” the memo went on, “and even then, we will need to pick our battles wisely and not spread ourselves too thin. While playing defense, we’re going to have to try and force the Democrats into making mistakes that we can use to score small victories and build momentum.”

Miller, who could not be reached for comment Friday, noted that as Republicans have weakened in the state, labor unions have remained a potent pro-Democratic force. And the GOP traditional funding base, the corporate world, “has been little help in the overall fight” due to its desire to work with the dominant Democrats, he wrote.

More: California Republican Says Party in Dire Straits and Is Anathema to Women, Latinos and Young People