SACRAMENTO — Leading Democrats on Wednesday said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had muzzled California voters by vetoing an advisory ballot measure calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“The self-proclaimed ’People’s Governor’ owed nothing less to the people of California and our troops overseas than to let the voice of the voters be heard on this disastrous war in Iraq...,” state Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said in a statement.

“The Republican Party must stop looking at this war through rose-colored glasses and start working with Democrats across the country on a way to bring a responsible end to the war.”

Schwarzenegger announced early Wednesday morning that he had vetoed a bill by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, that would have put the withdrawal question on California’s Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot.

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said an advisory vote on withdrawing troops “would only further divide voters and shift attention from other critical issues that must be addressed.”

“The decision to engage in or withdraw troops from war is a federal issue, not a state issue,” he added. “Few decisions are more difficult for members of Congress and the president.”

He said voters could make their views about the war known by how they vote in next year’s presidential election.

“There is no louder message Californians can send to Washington on the Iraq war than who should lead our nation,” he said.

The Republican governor had until Tuesday to sign or veto the bill. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor vetoed the bill at 11:52 p.m., eight minutes before the midnight deadline.

It was a tough issue for Schwarzenegger. A signature likely would have angered many of the governor’s fellow Republicans, who are more supportive of the war than Democrats and independents.

Perata said the veto took away an opportunity for Californians to peacefully protest the U.S. presence in Iraq.

“There is no one in this state right now that does not have an opinion on this, and that opinion is certainly not being recognized in Washington,” he told The Associated Press after Schwarzenegger issued his veto. “So those of us who went through the Vietnam War and had to go out on the streets to protest now have an opportunity, or had an opportunity, to do something peacefully using their franchise, and it has been denied.”

Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Fresno, praised the veto, calling the bill a “divisive political stunt.”

“Whatever our feelings may be on the war in Iraq, we must support our troops and pray for their safe return upon completion of their mission,” he said in a statement.

In part, the advisory measure would have asked voters if Bush should “end the United States’ occupation of Iraq and achieve the immediate, complete, safe and orderly withdrawal of United States forces.”

A Field Poll conducted last month found that 58 percent of Californians who were questioned supported setting a deadline to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring.

Schwarzenegger has tried to steer a middle course on the issue, saying he supports the troops and the war on terror but also backs a “timetable for withdrawal.”

The veto came the same week as the top U.S. military commander in Iraq presented his assessment of the situation there to Congress.

During a national address Thursday, President Bush is expected to endorse a plan that would allow some troops to begin leaving in the coming months. The plan by Gen. David Petraeus calls for 130,000 troops to remain in Iraq by next August, the same number as before the administration-ordered buildup earlier this year.