The good folks at Madison's Capital Times have come up with another beauty of an idea today. They want Madison to join San Francisco and some communities in Vermont in holding a referendum on the Iraq War.

Local lefty John Nichols says:

Unfortunately, when Madison voters go to the polls two weeks from today, they will not have an opportunity to register their sentiments. And, because this is a so-called "off year" for elections, Madisonians won't have another regularly scheduled local election until next February.

That does not mean, however, that Madisonians have to wait almost a year to send a message to the president.

The Madison Metropolitan School District is planning to hold a special referendum in May. Polling stations will be staffed, ballots will be printed and citizens will be expected to cast their ballots anyway. Why not place an advisory referendum regarding the war on the May ballot?

Didn't Madisonians and the rest of America have a chance to "send a message to the President" back in November? Is Nichols' problem that Madisonians can't send a message now, or is that he didn't like the "keep up the good work" message that Americans did send the President?

It's especially interesting that Nichols suggests that this vote be coupled with the school district's referendum. The school district has already been widely criticized because many think they've purposely scheduled their vote to make sure the turnout's low. They're afraid that if the referendum was held at a regular election time, they'd lose the fight for more funding. In other words, like Nichols, they're doing all they can to find an election they can finally win.