West Coast secession can't work anything like they'd plan it. Because they'd likely plan the entirety of the state going with them. That ain't happening. Once state secession is on the table, the Red Counties are GONE, and they get to resume the powers and privileges of their old state without the big cities to stop them.
It gives them what they want if the civil war only involves the dumb masses. That is something that has to be prevented at all costs. If it occurs, it has to be specific targets, with more than justifiable reason. The people that are trying to provoke it have to be the priority target, random chaos is not an option.
You actually think the entirety of the state will go along with that? It'll give them the perfect excuse to finally create their New California. They get to be their own state, no longer under the control of the major coastal cities, AND they have their own section of coastal region, they can try to set up a new port.
Remember this when told “The military will back Biden.”