Why did Brown and Boxer win?

One word: unions - specifically government employee unions. That's why the legalize pot initiative in California failed too. It's the same in Oregon which voted for Kerry against Bush but voted against gay marriage. Union members are often socially "conservative" but have been brainwashed by union Marxist rhetoric into thinking that socialism is the answer because they are totally ignorant of real-life economics. Public sector unions could destroy America and should never have been allowed.