An Arizona ballot initiative that would have prevented health care reform proposals such as the one that passed in Massachusetts (and failed to pass in California) has been defeated. Early returns had shown that Prop 101 was too close to call, but supporters of the initiative all but conceded defeat yesterday. Other good news for would-be reformers: In Wisconsin, a non-binding referendum on whether the legislature should enact health care reform passed easily. The measure said that the reform should guarantee health care coverage for all that is as good as what state lawmakers receive. But no method of achieving such an outcome was specified.

This long and well-researched article from the newspaper in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, argues that the fault for so many failed local school referendums lies with the strange way state school funding is calculated. But another argument emerging in Wisconsin -- where 31 of 61 school referenda failed last week -- is voter fatigue. That's been an explanation heard in initiative-heavy states such as California, Oregon and Colorado. Academic studies suggest this is bogus. Yes, there is some evidence of fatigue among voters who are asked to vote many times a year on many measures. But there is no evidence that voting more often makes voters more likely to defeat measures. In fact, voters are generally inclined to defeat ballot measures no matter how often they vote. This is especially true of initiatives, which -- over more than a century of American direct democracy -- have shown a consistent record: they lose more than two-thirds of the time.

So you watched Wisconsin's elections Tuesday. What did you learn? Voters in this swing state are wary of executive power. They stripped their governor of the so-called Frankenstein veto (which permitted governors to cross out words and numbers to create new sentences). The vote was overwhelming, 71-29.

Voters go to the polls today in Wisconsin, and, if you know the state and its people at all (your blogger married one), you know an April Fools Day election is fitting. But keep an eye on Wisconsin today: the results may be more important than those of the much ballyhooed presidential primary in February.

There's a fascinating battle over executive power: a constitutional amendment would eliminate the "Frankenstein Veto." Governors have this extraordinary veto power to eliminate words and combine phrases to give legislation meaning that was never intended. And I'm keeping my eye on a huge number of major school bonds on local ballots. Particularly in places such as Brookfield and Rice Lake (stop in and have a piece of pie at the Norske Nook if you're ever there) where voters have a history of being skeptical of such bonds. Why?

Your blogger married a Wisconsin girl, who requires an annual summer trip to the Dairy State (Chippewa Falls, hometown of Annie Hall and the DiCaprio character in Titanic). As a result, he has had many occasions to marvel at the wonders produced by the state's Progressive tradition.

One not so Progressive fact of life in Wisconsin is the so-called "Frankenstein veto." Governors are permitted to delete individual words and combine phrases in legislation, thereby creating law that the legislature never intended.

A measure on the April 1 ballot gives voters the chance to do away with Frankenstein. Here's a look at how the current governor used the measure to increase transportation spending all by himself.