The survey results made it clear that the president was wading into a divisive area of American life, one that may not top the nation’s priority list but still has the potential to hurt him at the margins in elections in November. About 4 in 10, or 38 percent, of Americans support same-sex marriage, while 24 percent favor civil unions short of formal marriage. Thirty-three percent oppose any form of legal recognition. When civil unions are eliminated as an option, opposition to same-sex marriage rises to 51 percent, compared with 42 percent support.

What's interesting is that even among those who this matter to, Obama loses more voters than gains by taking this stance. Is it his view that he can mobilize a particular faction of his voting bloc to be more proactive? Is he hoping he can bring people out to vote because of this stance? Problem is that he may motivate and mobilize those in opposition to gay marriage, as that seems to be a very well organized group (as can be seen by all of the constitutional amendments passed).

Can you say... Backfire?

Ending a decade of turmoil, the Minnesota Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a $975 million Vikings stadium meant to anchor the team in Minneapolis for a generation.

The vote ended a turbulent session that saw the project nearly die several times, only to get revived and then dominate the Legislature's final weeks, as opponents ultimately succumbed to intense pressure.

"We delivered," said a triumphant Sen. Julie Rosen, the stadium bill's sponsor, as purple-clad, horn-wearing fans cheered wildly from the gallery overhead. "We are going to have a first-class stadium we can all be very, very proud of."

Now... if they can only win a Superbowl!

Chat away.

How, exactly, does that happen?

Barrett, btw... was Walkers opponent in 2010. Walker won that race 52%-46%, so there is a bit of making up to do for Tom Barrett.

One of the last "moderates" in the Republican party was defeated yesterday by a tea party Republican. I don't think this bodes well for the nation as a whole.

Chatter away. The last thread is full.

You have to go back two weeks to find a poll on RCP that shows Obama with a lead.

Btw... the Politico Battleground poll shows Obama up by 10 just two months ago.

Narrow Path to Victory:

You've been hearing a ton from certain pundits suggesting that the "electoral map" looks bad for Romney, or that Romney's path to victory is "narrow" and allows for no margin of error. But it's quite simple folks... they both have to win the same states to win the election. Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, etc...

There is an early assumption (probably misguided) that traditional battleground states such as Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are somehow out of reach for Romney... which is driving the "narrow path to victory" arguments.

The reality is that most of these assumptions have been built over the past couple months where the President was consistently out-polling Romney by upper single digits to lower double digits. If Obama wins nationally by 7-8 points... no, then Romney can't win Michigan or Nevada. He also has no real path to victory. If the two are running neck and neck, then those states are back in the fray and Romney's narrow path widens considerably. May is way too early to be making solid predictions or somehow suggesting that the electoral map has decisively changed since 2008.

UPDATE: Our friend Sean Trende has a nice piece today in RCP that goes into much more detail regarding Romney's narrow path to victory. Basically argues (in more depth) exactly what this post suggests.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, a welcome sign after claims had previously risen four weeks in a row.

About 365,000 people filed for their first week of jobless benefits, a significant drop from 392,000 claims filed the week before, the Labor Department said.

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Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected 375,000 initial claims.

Jobless claims are considered a key measure of the job market, strongly correlated with the number of layoffs in the economy. While last week's drop was seen as an encouraging sign, it's also too soon to tell whether claims are returning to a downward trend.

"The question is where is the trend going forward," said Brett Ryan, U.S. economist with Deutsche Bank. "We think the labor market continues to remain healthy and we expect claims to edge lower."

Initial claims can be volatile, especially in the spring when Easter and schools on spring break often throw off the seasonal adjustments.

That's because many states allow school contract workers -- like bus drivers and cafeteria workers -- to apply for unemployment benefits if school is out of session temporarily. Easter falls on a different week each year, as do school breaks, making it hard for economists to adjust for this phenomenon.

"Since the Easter holiday moves around on the calendar, the seasonal effects are difficult to nail precisely and the Department of Labor usually has trouble getting the seasonal factors right," Ryan said.

For that reason, economists prefer to look at a four-week moving average, which increased to 383,500 last week, up marginally from the previous week's average.