By LEE N. HOWELL
Politically Speaking

Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes is making up his “wish” list — and he is checking it twice — though he will not be getting the “gifts” he wants for Christmas.

Rather, they are expected to arrive by March, and they will come courtesy of the Georgia General Assembly — assuming he has as good a track record during his second legislative session as governor as he did during his first.

At this point, there is little reason for long-time political observers to think he will not.

So, we can expect to see some more major changes in the way state government operates — and more concentration of power in Barnes' hands, which is not a bad thing at all.

For, Barnes understands the way government works and he has a pretty good grasp on how to make it work better.

After all, Barnes learned a lot of what he is now putting into practice at the feet of his old mentor, former Georgia Gov. Joe Frank Harris (whom Barnes served as Senate floor leader and who he now calls “the best governor he has ever worked with.”

Considering that he served in the state legislature as an ally of the last occupant of the Governor's Mansion, Zell Miller, one might think that he would be Barnes' mentor.

And, the current governor did learn a lot from the immediate past one.

But, most of what Barnes learned from Miller was about how to win election as governor.

In 1990, both Miller and Barnes were candidates for the job — along with several other then-noted aspirants for the post.

After 16 years as lieutenant governor, Miller made winning the top state job look easy.

Barnes was a good student and in 1998 he put into practice many of the lessons he learned from Miller about how to be elected.

But, once he got into office, it was not his immediate predecessor to whom Barnes looked as a model, even though Miller had left the governor's mansion with an enviable 85 percent approval rating and the apparent ability to win whatever post he wanted, if he had wanted to run.

Barnes reached back into his past and chose Harris as a role model.

Harris, as you may remember was a very successful governor in his first term, enacting the Quality Basic Education program with near unanimity.

And, in his second term, this governor — who had pledged “No New Taxes” in his initial campaign for governor — managed to raise the state sales tax a penny and give the state the economic boost it needed to set it on its current thriving economy.

(To be fair, the proceeds of Miller's Lottery — which both Harris and Barnes initially opposed — did not hurt.)

In Barnes' first year as governor, he managed to refocus the state's transportation system and put his stamp on a lot of other state programs.

This year, Barnes wants to make education accountable — and he is doing it without the help of State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko.

In fact, he is doing his best to accomplish his goals without even involving her.

For her part, Schrenko is crying like a “stuck pig” — complaining that she already is working on a program to make the schools accountable.

Of course, she has been in office for eight years — and she has only managed to waste $47 million (which was paid for by many of the state's struggling school systems who had been persuaded to sign up for it!) on a computer system that was sold the state by her campaign manager.

If she really wanted to make the schools accountable, she has had plenty of time to do it or, at least, to try.

She did not do anything.

So, maybe Barnes is right to ignore her and attempt to make the schools accountable without her.

Merry Christmas, Governor!

[Lee N. Howell is an award-winning writer who has been observing and commenting upon politics and society in the Southern Crescent, the state and nation for more than a quarter century.]

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