Stay or Go? Wisconsin Voters Weighing In on Iraq

WATERTOWN, Wis., April 2, 2006 — -- In Wisconsin this week, people on both sides of the Iraq war will take their passion to the polls, voting in referendums on whether U.S. troops should be pulled out right now.

The measures calling for immediate withdrawal won't carry any legal weight and can't force the Bush administration to pull troops out of Iraq. But just getting the question on the ballot in more than 30 Wisconsin towns is another sign of growing discontent with the war.

Backers of the referendum are canvassing dozens of small towns in Wisconsin, going door-to-door to end the war by distributing anti-war literature.

"You gotta know when to hold them and know when to fold them," Penny Eiler, an anti-war referendum organizer, said. "Well, it's time to cut our losses and walk away."

Watertown is one of 32 communities that will weigh in, and the town of 23,000 seems an unlikely hotbed of opposition. After all, it voted overwhelmingly for President Bush the past two elections.