Patchwork Nation:

After a string of electoral defeats, supporters of gay-marriage rights thought they might have a winner in Maine. The New England state has an ingrained strain of stay-out-of-my-business libertarianism. But 53 percent of voters (according to the tally early Wednesday morning) did not support the law.

Wisconsin dairy farmers keep hearing about an economic recovery, but business costs are consistently higher than what they can get for milk, leaving them wondering how they’ll make it through the next month.

This month’s Economic Hardship Index, for the first time, may provide a positive answer. By almost every measure in October, the index paints an improving picture in most of our 12 community types.

The list of problems that President Obama inherited upon arrival office was massive – an economy near collapse, a struggling financial sector, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the H1N1 virus. And the response so far has been a lot of federal spending – well over a trillion dollars.