Gov. Nathan Deal was the picture of confidence last week as he presided over the traditional lighting of the state Christmas tree. Deal was beaming as he and his wife Sandra welcomed visitors to the Capitol and wished them well for the holiday season. He looked like a public official supremely at ease with himself.
Behind the scenes, there are signs that the governor is getting a little nervous about his upcoming campaign for re-election. One indicator of this nervousness is the governor’s official website. For nearly three years, Deal’s website included the texts of every executive order he had signed since taking office in 2011. These records were available to anyone with a computer and an Internet hookup. Now, those records have vanished. If you go to Deal’s official website, you won’t be able to access the texts of his executive orders, because they have been removed.
The only way to see Deal’s orders is to travel to the Capitol, find the right office and request print copies of the orders. If you’re an interested citizen who lives far from Atlanta and wants to check online what the governor has been doing, you’re out of luck.
Here’s why this matters: There are times when the governor takes an official action and the public doesn’t learn about it because no news release is sent out. The only way you can really find out what’s been happening is to check the executive orders he signs—but it is more difficult now for the public to see those orders.
The governor’s aides are obviously trying to keep the lid on information that might be troublesome in an election year. For example, Deal signed an executive order Oct. 4 authorizing the removal of the statue of former senator Tom Watson from in front of the capitol. The removal of the Watson statue caused some grumbling among Southern heritage groups, which include conservative voters who are likely to turn out in next year’s Republican primary. Deal’s action to move the statue was not publicized in a news release, and some reporters only learned about it while doing a routine check of the governor’s executive orders.
There have been other attempts to keep Deal insulated from potentially negative news. The state Board of Natural Resources, which is appointed by the governor, was scheduled to adopt new rules in December that would have eased the environmental restrictions on the operation of large hog farms. Such a decision could have left Deal open to criticism that his board had made it easier for Georgia’s drinking water supplies to be polluted with hog waste. Prior to the natural resources board meeting, the hog farm rule was pulled from consideration and probably won’t come up again until after the elections.
That kind of skittishness is an indication that you have a public official who is feeling a little nervous about his reelection prospects. Deal obviously does not want to become the second governor—Roy Barnes was the first—to lose a bid for a second consecutive term in office.
Should he even be nervous?
Deal is a Republican governor in a conservative state that is very GOP-friendly. The Affordable Care Act does not poll well among many Georgians, and aside from Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, I don’t know of any elected official who’s been more critical of Obamacare than Deal.
Deal has been a very pro-business governor, which means he will get a flood of campaign contributions from business executives and chamber of commerce officials. He most likely will have far more money in his campaign account than any of the candidates who challenge him.
I don’t see many reasons at this point for Deal to be so nervous, but he and his people are still playing it very cautiously.
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