[General] Gay Rights in the US

From a Wall St. Journal blog,

• "In Maine and Maryland, voters approved ballot initiatives to begin allowing same-sex unions. And 
• in Minnesota voters declined to back an initiative that would enshrine in the state’s constitution a definition of marriage permitting only a union between a man and woman. 
• In Washington state, where voters also weighed an initiative to legalize gay marriage, the vote count was expected to stretch on for days. [Reading elsewhere, the vote for was apparently leading]
  
• in Wisconsin, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, defeated the four-time governor, Tommy Thompson, for a seat in the U.S. Senate. She will be the first openly gay senator in the nation’s history."

This is a little satisfying, but not completely.  A lot of votes are very close, and that's hardly satisfying, to know that it really could have gone either why, and it becomes almost chance that one side or the other one.  Are people happy if they win with a 1-3% margin?  The vote doesn't really represent the nation or state very well.  It's also obvious wen you look at regions by population density that a lot of differences are found between rural and urban areas.  I feel like they actually share more interests than they realise.

I sort of wish that voting required a clear majority one way or the other, and that there could be a period of extended discussion after close votes to help reach consensus.  I suppose no one wants to spend the time or money for that, though.