Gov. Roy Barnes pushed the landmark vote to change Georgia's flag through the General Assembly as quickly as he could in January, to leave time for lawmakers to take up other less symbolic, more substantive issues.
Critics go further.
Then, everything was looked at through the glasses of the flag vote. But Democratic leaders in both legislative chambers can point to successes they're helping steer through the General Assembly, even if those issues aren't generating the level of publicity that surrounded the flag bill. Phase two of Barnes' education-reform program, which has passed both the House and Senate, calling for an end to social promotion in Georgia schools. Authorization of a new funding mechanism designed to accelerate completion of a network of four-lane highways crisscrossing Georgia considered crucial to rural economic development, projects that are years behind schedule. Johnson charged that many of the Democrats' best ideas this session originated with the Republicans, including cracking down on teen drivers, ending social promotion and Barnes' college-savings plan passed by the House and Senate.