California Primary Ballot May Include Iraq Question

California Primary Ballot May Include Iraq Question

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: June 2, 2007
LOS ANGELES, June 1 — California is poised to become the first state to ask voters whether they favor an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

Candidate Topic PagesMore Politics NewsThe Democratic-led State Legislature is expected to approve a bill that would place the question on the presidential primary ballot next February. The Rules Committee in the Senate approved the bill on Wednesday, and it is expected to go before both houses in the coming weeks.

A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the governor would not weigh in until a bill hit his desk. Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has expressed support in the past for setting a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq, and he has been an enthusiastic backer of democracy by ballot measure.

California has a long history of ballot measures, but this would be the first time in 25 years that an advisory question on foreign policy was placed before the voters. Win or lose, the measure would be toothless, but pollsters and political scientists said it could change the dynamics of the primary race here, in part by making it difficult for presidential candidates to avoid the subject while campaigning in the state.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/politics/02ballot.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

I can almost predict how the vote will go too

if it's only symbolic. I do believe it will turn voters out in numbers like never before.