Friday Night Tweets_ Marijuana and Unemployment

A few weeks back, we were going to start a series on interesting U.S. Congressional races, and our first one was to be the race between Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), perhaps the most conservative Democrat in Washington, DC, against Mia Love (R), the black Mormon mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah. The Beehive State is about three percent African-American, and Mitt Romney, who is also a Mormon, is expected to win Utah by a wide margin. But, surprise, today "The Salt Lake Tribune" endorsed President Barack Obama! This was according to a tweet from Democratic strategist Dana Vickers Shelley.

Here we go:

1) @TheOnion ("The Onion" is a faux news publication): "WARS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE: "Romney's Terrifying Google Search History Leaked."

2) @SFWeekly ("San Francisco Weekly"): "City's first Union Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens_ Finally!"

3) @current (Current-TV): "Pot & politics: @GovGaryJohnson joins @TYTCurrent in 10 min to talk marijuana laws #Election2012" (Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, has switched parties and he is now the Libertarian Party nominee for president)

4) @WSOC_TV (WSOC TV, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, NC): "Unemployment rates drop in both North Carolina and South Carolina."

5) @dcweatheralerts (Weather Gang Alerts, for Washington, DC-metro area): "Tornado warnings for Baltimore County until 7:30 p.m."

6) @nprscottsimon (Scott Simon of NPR): "I like GQ's defense of debate moderators: 'You sit there and try to rein in two egomaniacs....' "

10 People Who Will Decide Election- New Mexico

Name: Maria Gonzalez (not to be confused with the Costa Rican gymnast of the same name)

Occupation: Fourth grade teacher

Race: Hispanic

Residency: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Age: 28

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

Santa Fe is the state capital of New Mexico, and the state's fourth largest city. Santa Fe County voted overwhelming for Barack Obama by a 77-23 margin. Obama's win in New Mexico was arguably one of his most impressive since his opponent John McCain is from neighboring Arizona.

New Mexico is not an entirely blue state though as the current governor Susanna Martinez, 59, is a Republican though she lost Santa Fe County to her Democratic opponent Diane Denish. The state's previous governor Bill Richardson (D) attempted to run for office. And, another former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, a former Republican, is on the national ballot as the Libertarian Party candidate.

In her address at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, Fla., Martinez gave speech that was aimed more at Hispanics than independents which was a stark contrast to the red meat, partisan speeches from the likes of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Currently, "Politico" has President Obama winning New Mexico by a 50-40 margin over Mitt Romney.

http://www.santafe.org

http://www.politico.com

http://www.governor.state.nm.us

http://www.nmdemocrats.org

http://www.gopnm.com