War bellwether: state leads way on anti-war referendums
http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/....php?ntid=76794
By Judith Davidoff
March 18, 2006
Wisconsin will blaze a trail in April when, for the first time, voters will go to the polls as part of a statewide effort to pass referendums opposed to the war in Iraq.

"We see the Wisconsin campaign itself as a bellwether of national opinion," said Karen Dolan, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and director of the Cities for Progress project, which is helping local governments pass resolutions against the war.

"The fact that the post-invasion peace resolutions have become statewide affairs is indicative of the high level of concern and dissatisfaction among a broad sector of our citizens. Activists in other states are hoping to follow Wisconsin's model."

National peace activists will be watching closely on April 4 when voters in 32 Wisconsin communities weigh in on resolutions that call for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Candidates running for office this fall will also likely take notice.

While lawmakers in more than 50 city and town governments across the country have passed anti-war resolutions, and voters at more than 40 town meetings in Vermont passed similar measures, the Wisconsin elections mark the first time that voters will see such a question on a ballot.

Only one Wisconsin community - Evansville - will also have a resolution on the April ballot opposing troop withdrawal. Ozaukee County will have a referendum in "support of U.S. anti-terror efforts" on the ballot in November.

The referendums are not legally binding, but supporters of immediate withdrawal hope that, if successful, their initiatives will put pressure on politicians in Washington to ratchet up efforts to disengage from Iraq.

"This ballot referendum is a chance for voters to go in and give their opinion on the current policy," said Barbara Smith, who has been active in the anti-war referendum efforts in Madison. "It is a chance to say we want to change the war policy."

Madison, because of its progressive politics and anti-war tradition, is expected to vote in favor of the referendum but victories elsewhere will be even more significant, said Steve Burns, one of the leaders of the Madison campaign.

Among the Wisconsin communities that will vote on anti-war referendums are Milwaukee, Mount Horeb, Watertown and La Crosse. Burns noted there are even anti-war referendums pending in Door County, which helped re-elect President Bush in 2004.

"People will look at the statewide message and, if they see it winning outside of Madison, I think that will send a very strong message," he said.

"You really have to look at it as a statewide effort," added Burns. "That's really what gives it its power."

Tim Carpenter, director of Progressive Democrats of America, said he's confident the anti-war referendums will pass in Wisconsin and people will be watching.

"It will be a great organizing tool for grass-roots groups across the country to model,"Carpenter said.

What will it mean: Ken Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sees the anti-war referendum effort as largely symbolic.

"By itself it doesn't signify much," he said. "What's going on here is that people who are opposed to the war are seeking an opportunity to make that point and to try to demonstrate that opposition is broad. I don't think that it will have any impact on decisions in Washington because people who make those decisions already have the information they need. You can look at public opinion polls and see where that is heading."

But Joe Elder, a sociology professor at UW-Madison, said candidates running for office in Wisconsin will take notice.

"Both Democrats and Republicans who are considering their electoral chances next fall may want to take the measure of public opinion so that they can could come out with a position that will get them elected and also will have widespread support," Elder said.

Elder said that the ballot results might also mean candidates will be routinely asked to state where they stand on withdrawing troops from Iraq.

"At this point candidates could be weighing whether to recommend continuing a war, which is clearly not going well, or to conclude that the U.S. has done all it could do in Iraq and that the time has come to withdraw, as we did in Vietnam, and let the people living in the area settle their own differences."

Ben Manski, former co-chair of the National Green Party, said the anti-war initiatives have also had a secondary impact by sparking interest in a Progressive-era state law that allows citizens to bypass lawmakers and put questions of interest directly to voters.

"It's direct democracy at its heart," said Manski, who has provided legal counsel to several peace coalition campaigns around the state.

Out-of-state activists, Manski said, "are looking at Wisconsin's example to see how they can bring that to the people in their state."

National and local scene: Last year, more than 40 Vermont towns passed resolutions at town meetings calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Other cities have followed suit, including Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Vermont's example inspired the state Green Party to reach out to other peace groups in Wisconsin to launch the referendum effort here, Manski said.

Sam Johnson, a founder of one of three groups in Wisconsin that have organized to oppose the anti-war referendums, charges his opposition is being directed and funded by national groups.

Johnson, who started the "Vote No to Cut and Run" political action committee with two other Dane County Republican Party officers, said his group is supported by the Republican Party but has received no funding from it.

Burns, of the Bring the Troops Home effort in Madison, disputes the notion that Wisconsin efforts are being directed at a national level. He said a coalition of 30 local groups, including churches, unions and peace groups, make up the effort in Madison.

"The money is all local," Burns said.

There is no doubt that the anti-war referendum side has deeper and wider support than its opposition.

Groups involved in Madison's anti-war effort include the South-Central Federation of Labor, Dane County Democrats, Four Lakes Green Party, International Socialist Organization, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, the Madison Area Peace Coalition and Madison Ecumenical Center Board.

Elected officials who have lent their name to the campaign include Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, State Reps. Spencer Black and Mark Pocan and State Sens. Mark Miller and Fred Risser.

Johnson said his newly organized group has no formal endorsements and is concentrating on simply getting its message out. He said the group will focus on the referendum campaigns in Madison, Monona and Mount Horeb.

In Evansville, two local residents are the primary force behind the successful effort to place a referendum on the ballot that expresses support for continuing the war until "unquestioned victory is clearly won." A referendum calling for troop withdrawal is already on the ballot.

"We're just two guys with a clipboard," said Ron Gay of himself and his neighbor, Tony Ryerson.

Gay, a pastor and former U.S. Marine, said he, Ryerson and another resident went house to house seeking signatures to get their referendum on the ballot.

He said 75 percent of those contacted signed the petition.

"If the signers are a reflection of the vote, ours will pass," Gay said.

Johnson of "Vote No to Cut and Run" said his group is trying to raise money for its campaign off its Web site and will distribute about 1,000 yard signs and 500 bumper stickers.

He said his effort is driven by a belief that withdrawal of the troops would serve neither American nor Iraqi interests.

"The terrorists will declare victory if the troops come home before the job is done," he said.

But Ken Scott, one of the leaders of the anti-war referendum in Mount Horeb, said Iraq "can't be reconstructed at gunpoint. It's not working."

Withdrawing U.S. troops, Scott said, "would give Iraqi politicians the absolute incentive to cooperate with each other to avoid civil war and it will give the international community an opportunity to work with all parties involved. And we would be among the international community."

Who will vote

• Communities with "Bring the Troops Home" referendums:

Amery

Frederic

Osceola

Hayward

Exeland

Winter

Couderay

Town of Draper

Town of Edgewater

Town of Ojibwa

Ladysmith

Egg Harbor

Ephrain

Forestville

Sister Bay

Sturgeon Bay

Algoma

Casco

Kewaunee

Luxemburg

LaCrosse

Baraboo

Evansville*

Madison

Monona

Mount Horeb

Newport

Watertown

Whitefish Bay

Shorewood

Town of Perry

Town of Vermont

Source: Wisconsin State Referendum to Bring our Troops Home

*In Evansville, there will also be a referendum on the ballot opposing troop withdrawal.