On election day in Massachusetts, 61% of the electorate in 36 state representative districts voted to "End the war in Iraq immediately." Those 36 districts (out of 160 districts total) encompass part or all of 139 towns and cities spread across the length and breadth of the state. In an outcome that surprised even those who organized the campaign, the measure was approved by voters in all 36 districts and in 130 of those 139 towns.

On the same day, voters in 10 Wisconsin cities and towns [6] passed resolutions to immediately begin bringing all US troops home from Iraq by an aggregate margin of 68% to 32%. In Illinois [7], where 1.2 million voters cast a ballot on a similar resolution, the vote was an astounding 71% to 29%! Even voters in ex-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's district supported the initiative.

Of much more significance, the national election itself served as a referendum on the war, indicating widespread anger bubbling up across the land. Clearly, not all of this discontent translates into a demand for an immediate end to the war. But the stunning results of the election should serve as a warning to Congress, the White House, and national media pundits who are trying to come up with a new plan that keeps our troops in Iraq.

The picture of what the people of this country want is becoming clearer. In conjunction with the national election results, the data that's available from town meeting and city council resolutions by the hundreds, and now from the direct vote of the people in several states, points to a developing public consensus around a new policy on Iraq: the immediate start of a safe, orderly, and humane return home of all our troops.

I am not aware of any formal expressions of public support for staying in Iraq, or sending more troops, or maintaining permanent military bases. The public seems to be moving in the opposite direction from the war planners. For many different reasons, at this point in time, it seems likely that a true majority of Americans across the political spectrum agree with us that it is time to come home from Iraq now.

The significance of these developments cannot be overemphasized. They mean that these next few months are critical, offering us our best chance yet of ending the occupation and exposing the real goals of those who took us into this war and other criminal ventures. We are at our strongest, with the wind of majority support at our backs.

This most opportune moment may not last and, therefore, we must act now. Something to remember from Vietnam: in March 1968 the public turned sharply against the war. When in response to growing discontent President Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek re-election, everyone assumed that the Vietnam war would soon be ended. Instead, Richard Nixon found a way to mollify public opinion and keep the war going. During the following 4 years over 21,000 more US troops were killed; 5 million additional people in Indochina were killed, wounded, or made refugees; and the worst damage of the war was inflicted on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

It is our job to reinforce public sentiment on Iraq, give it visibility, and organize it into a nonviolent sledgehammer smashing away at the new strategic edifice that the war-makers in the Pentagon, corporate media, White House, and the two major political parties are desperately trying to erect right now to stay in Iraq. One thing we need to do is energize the Democrats in Congress who agree with us to give the "home now" position on Iraq more visibility, and to speak up loudly, clearly, and often against new strategies for continuing the war. More importantly, the January 27 national demonstration in Washington (www.unitedforpeace.org [8]) and strong local actions leading up to it offer an opportunity to carry out our task.

But beyond these strategic matters, the convincing votes in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Wisconsin serve to validate the work we have done over these difficult years, to try to prevent this war and then to end it. After all this work, we woke up on November 8 to find out that our neighbors agree with us about some fundamental precepts. It's a fulfilling feeling, one that we should savor and utilize to boost our morale as we step up the good fight in frightening times. It is not we who are out of step with the people; rather it is those who led us to war. If this is the case with Iraq, it may very well be the case with many of the other critical issues of our day.