The storylines of the 2012 election results could not be more different when you compare the rest of the country to North Carolina.

President Barack Obama was re-elected overwhelmingly and Democrats gained seats in the U.S. Senate in a year when Republicans thought they had a chance to reclaim the majority. Voters in Maryland and Maine approved marriage equality. It looks like it will also pass in the state of Washington. Minnesota voters defeated a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Florida voters rejected the dangerous and ridiculously named Taxpayers Bill of Rights and people in Michigan rejected a silly call for a super-majority in the General Assembly to raise taxes. Voters in Maryland also approved a version of the Dream Act that will allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition and be eligible for financial aid at public universities.

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