PATCH PONDERS

POLL: Did the Political Campaign Cost You Any Friendships?

We're hearing reports of long-time friendships being cut off, especially on social media, during the bitterly contested campaign. Did it happen to you?

  The arguing is over. Admittedly, arguing over politics never really ends in the United States; that's part of the price we pay for living in a constitutional republic, in which the big decisions are made by a majority of the citizens. But at least, with the question of "who's going to be president the next four years?" settled, the arguing can settle back down to the ordinary background noise of bickering, as opposed to the daily shoutfests in which so many seemed to be engaged during the campaign. Or can it? We're hearing lots of reports about long-time relationships being cut off in recent months, especially on social media, as people discover that, "Oh my God, you're a (fill in the blank)?" "You support THAT guy?" "Don't you care …

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Obama Wins Minnesota

Voters in Minnesota on Tuesday cast their ballot for Barack Obama, giving him the state's 10 Electoral votes.

Barack Obama won Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes on Tuesday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney. CBS News has called the Minnesota race for the President shortly after 9:30 p.m., about the same time ABC News projected Minnesota for Obama, after Obama took a more than 40,000 vote lead with about 10 percent of precincts reporting. The Associated Press also called the Minnesota race for Obama before 10 p.m., according to the Pioneer Press. Obama's 12 percent lead would match his margin over John McCain in 2008. In the 2008 presidential election, the state voted for the Democratic candidate, and since the 1990s has voted for the overall winner of the presidential race 3 out of 5 times. It has voted Republican only once in the last 50 years. …

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Amy Paddock

10:37 am on Saturday, December 22, 2012

Susan, I actually meant to correct what I wrote, but got distracted by something else, then finally went to bed. Been feeling sick really & suddenly became extremely tired. Anyway, I assume it is still there via email notification. I do think that right now everyone needs to feel protected. If we spend a little more on some security at our schools right now, under the circumstances, that is …   more ›

PATCH PONDERS

POLL: Any 'Undecideds' Left Out There?

Looks like we're in for a barrage of political ads in coming days, as the Romney campaign takes aim at voters in western Wisconsin. Do you think that will make a difference?

  So far, Minnesotans have been spared the barrage of political ads that are flooding the airwaves in Ohio and other so-called "swing states" where the close race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is likely to be decided. Now, according to a Huffington Post report Friday, that's about to change. The Romeny camp is increasingly convinced that it may be possible to win Wisconsin, and to increase their chances, they're making big ad buys in the major media markets, including the Twin Cities (where radio and television broadcast into western Wisconsin). Our question: Do you know anyone who's still undecided at this point? Are you? And if you are, what does either side need to do--or say in an advertisement--that will persuade you? Please …

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Who Won the Presidential Debate?: Twin Cities Patch Reacts

The two candidates for President of the United States addressed issues of foreign policy. Who presented his case better, President Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney? You tell us.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duked it out tonight in a contentious debate in Florida. Patch live-blogged the debate, which featured the candidates touching on issues from the Libya and Afghanistan to the fiscal crisis in Europe and a nuclear Iran. You can watch the entire debate on YouTube Politics. Patch conducted a live chat during the debate, and the reaction was mixed as to who made his point better: Some of the points resonated with our live-blog panelists. Many were split on who came out on top: Mark: The president comes across as far more knowledgeable and authoratative than Romney (tonight). Minnetonka: “It’s not government that makes business successful” agree. Sometimes it’s almost “in spite of” government hand in business.  …

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Twin Cities React: Who Won the Second Presidential Debate

President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney hit key points again and again Tuesday night in their second of three debates. Who came out ahead?

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duked it out tonight in a contentious debate in New York. Patch live-blogged the debate, which featured the candidates touching on issues from the budget defecit to national security, to America's energy sources. You can watch the entire debate on YouTube Politics. Some of the points resonated with our live-blog panelists. Many were split on who came out on top: From Ryan: The more I read his policies, the more I start to feel that Romney is the GOP version of John Kerry. He doesn't know what policies he believes in. From David Cross: The one thing this type of online chat demonstrates is how divided our country is. And this may result in us going down a path that we will regret and cannot recover from. I am …

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Twin Cities Politicians Say Romney Won First Presidential Debate

Looking energetic and sounding "presidential," Mitt Romney turned back President Barack Obama in the first of three debates between the two men vying for the top office in the country. Our panel of local politicos weighed in late last night.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney looked less like a "frontrunner" and more like a man on the attack Wednesday night, emerging as the winner of the first presidential debate, according to participants in the area's "Red Twin Cities" and "Blue Twin Cities" surveys, conducted by Patches around the Minneapolis and St. Paul suburbs and exurbs. The "flash" style polls were conducted just hours after the debate from Denver came to close.  Obama "missed his opporunity," according to one Democractic member of our panels. Another called him "rusty" in his first debate since winning two of the three presidential debates back in 2008.  Demcocrats were defensive of the president, not surprisingly. However, more than half of our pollsters said Mitt Romney won …

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Karl

10:29 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Check out News Busters.org.   more ›

Twin Cities Reaction: Who Won the Presidential Debate?

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duked it out in Denver, CO.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney duked it out tonight in their first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado. Patch live-blogged the debate, which featured the candidates touching on domestic issues like health care, PBS funding, and America's energy sources. You can watch the entire debate on YouTube Politics. Some of the points that resonated with our live-blog panelists were split on who came out on top: Here's a sampling of responses on Twitter:

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rob_h78

11:30 am on Monday, October 8, 2012

A couple of points. 1) Almost every incumbent President has lost the first debate since they have been televised, the only exception was Bill Clinton. 2) I remember in 2008 watching folks talk about how Obama lost debates to Hillary Clinton and how he lost debates to John McCain and yet he was the guy who took the oath of office at the end. I don't know if he will be re-elected, but, so far there…   more ›