As they see it.

• Position: Brief Article

"As far as the will of voters, it's as clear as mud."

--Maine Senator Ken Gagnon, in the Bangor Daily News, on Nov. 4 referenda on which voters simultaneously approved a question allowing slot machines at harness racing tracks while shooting down a plan to build a Foxwoods-style casino in southern Maine.

"We already have 17 state symbols. What's one more?"

--Pennsylvania Representative Ed Wojnaroski to the Associated Press about his bill to make the square dance and the polka the official state dances.

"With unanimity and unwavering resolve, the Illinois House on Thursday completed a historic reform of death penalty procedures in a state embarrassed by its penchant for choosing the wrong people to die."

--The first sentence of a Chicago Tribune editorial

"It was like a fantasy you couldn't have dreamed about. It was awesome to see how it came down with such precision."

--Virginia Berry-Green, a Louisiana state employee, in the Times-Picayune, on how it felt to blow up the 13-story state Land and Natural Resources building with the push of a button after she won a contest. The state will build an office tower where the building once stood.

"It's...