Wisconsin Voters Prepare to Weigh In On the War in Iraq

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/17/AR2006031701800.html

Wisconsin Voters Prepare to Weigh In On the War in Iraq
Referendum Stirs Passion on Both Sides


By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 18, 2006; A03



WATERTOWN, Wis. -- In an exercise that one side calls democracy and the other considers a disservice, voters in 30 Wisconsin towns will cast ballots next month on whether the Bush administration should withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

From Baraboo and Monona to Madison and La Crosse, antiwar activists invoked a 1911 state law to schedule a bring-the-troops-home referendum designed to send a message to Congress and the White House that the war is costing too many lives and too much money.

Watertown, a conservative city of 23,000 on the Rock River, voted strongly for President Bush in the past two elections, yet war opponents had no trouble gathering nearly 1,000 signatures to put the referendum on the April 4 ballot. The City Council objected, but it was overruled by a local court.

Letters from readers flew into the popular "Voice of the People" section of the Watertown Daily Times. Posters began popping up. Veterans groups, including the American Legion, have been discussing how to turn a referendum they oppose into a victory for U.S. forces..

[rodeodance]

1. says 76 cities in US have passed resolutions (bring troops home)

Nationally, three years after the U.S. invasion, 76 cities have passed resolutions calling for troops to come home, most recently Corvallis, Ore., and Lansdowne, Pa. Among them are Chicago; Berkeley, Calif.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Gary, Ind., as well as dozens of towns in Vermont.

[rodeodance]

2. well- I will give a big cheer to WISCONSIN!

[Gronk Groks]

3. Such a shame that a good republican town has to actually listen...

...to it's citizens. Makes it tough to keep the blinders on.

[rodeodance]

4. well, glad there were some blue pushers.