Pandering or pragmatism? Deal’s strategy sparks debate

March 19: The governor announces changes to give rural hospitals and clinics more flexibility amid complaints by Democratic state Sen. Jason Carter and others about a rural health care crisis.

April 3: Deal unveils plans to clear a backlog of food stamp applications that had built up for months and threaten millions in federal funding.

April 7: The governor throws his support behind a plan to remake the ethics commission days after a jury awards the former ethics chief $700,000 over claims she was forced from office for investigating Deal.

April 15: Deal's administration backs changes to the state insurance plans after months of protests by teachers and retirees over a move made earlier this year that limited their options and increased out-of-pocket costs. It was the second time since January that Deal has tried to minimize the fallout.

Protests over sweeping changes to the state’s insurance plan were fast transforming into a drive to register voters when Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration announced last week that it would give teachers and state workers more choice in their coverage options.

It was a tactical move that served as a prescient reminder of the strategy that helps drive the governor’s bid for a second term. If the opening months of this election year have taught us anything, it’s that Deal and his aides won’t hesitate to intervene to temper a fight — and, critics say, score political points in the process — if a growing controversy threatens.

It also showed how easy it is for any governor to use the power of his office to dilute the message of opponents, leaving them to repeat a common but often politically hollow refrain: It’s all election-year politics.

Deal in recent months has made at least a dozen moves, either through executive decisions or a legislative endorsement, that seek to neutralize a controversial issue or sideline a debate. The decisions could leave a deep imprint on state policy, such as a boost in education funding or a new push to overhaul the ethics agency. Or they could prove to be little more than short-term fixes and unfulfilled election-year promises.

The governor has used that tack to temper unrest from a powerful bloc of voters, such as educators infuriated with furlough days. Deal and his aides view them as measured approaches to growing dilemmas. His rivals see them as political maneuvering aimed solely at placating upset voters.

‘We take action in advance’

Whatever the motive, the actions he’s taken have ripple effects across the state.

Take his recent decision to back the expansion of Georgia's ethics board. For months, the governor had said he'll leave it to lawmakers to make changes to the troubled agency. But after the state lost a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former ethics director who said she lost her job for pushing an investigation of Deal, the governor pledged to overhaul a "broken" system.

There was also a careful rollout of a spending plan to increase k-12 education funding by more than $300 million in his budget this year, a move that not only has the potential to erase furloughs and boost teacher pay, but also provided a handy campaign talking point for the trail ahead.

And there was Deal’s bump in HOPE scholarship tuition money to top technical college students. That came only a few years after he pushed through cuts to the program that were blamed for a huge decline in technical college enrollment.

Deal told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his decisions are not driven by politics, but an effort to be both effective and pragmatic. If he can take the fire out of a budding controversy without overstepping his authority, Deal said, he would do so.

“It’s obviously better to try to deal with a problem before you have to deal with the bad effects of something happening. You can’t always do that,” Deal said. “We want to try to make sure we take action in advance of bad things happening.”

His rivals say his strategy is a transparent attempt to claim credit for fixes that were long overdue. Consider the response from Democrat Jason Carter's campaign to the latest round of changes to the $3 billion state health insurance plan, which came amid months of protests over skyrocketing costs stemming from administrative changes aimed at saving the state $200 million.

“The governor is trying to get credit for fixing a problem he created,” a Carter spokesman said.

Deal also signed an executive order saying a teacher would be part of the team deciding health care options for next year. He did so less than a month after activists and lobbyists say his administration helped block legislation that would have mandated putting teachers on the DCH board.

“I think there is an overall effort to calm the waters in a number of areas relative to education to get safely by November,” said Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the state’s largest teacher group. “It doesn’t seem that they are acting out of panic, just prudence. And I also look for a distinct change in tone come January 2015.”

Political points or pragmatism?

Sometimes, Deal’s moves directly undercut an opponent. Days before this year’s legislative session began, Deal rolled out plans to spend nearly $45 million on the biggest Internet expansion in state school history. The idea originated from the office of Superintendent John Barge, who is challenging Deal in the GOP primary.

In one swoop, the governor deprived a rival of a potential campaign wedge issue and earned kudos from rural voters who would most benefit from the influx. Barge, who had made the “dire” conditions of public schools in rural areas a centerpiece of his campaign, was left scrambling for a response.

It’s also put Carter in a tight spot. The Atlanta Democrat has consistently criticized HOPE changes that Deal backed in 2011 that cut payments to many students and is linked to a steep decline in technical college enrollment.

But this year Deal supported legislation originally introduced by a Democrat that provides more money to top tech school students. He also successfully proposed adding $7 million to the budget to pay for the expansion. So on the final day of the session, Carter wound up giving a speech endorsing a bill that Deal helped underwrite.

“The administration doesn’t want to admit what a terrible failure the HOPE reforms were in 2011,” Carter said. “We cannot use this bill to cover up the true economic crisis we have in our state. This is a step in the right direction, but this is a Band-Aid on the real problems we have.”

‘I actually support it’

It’s hard for even his critics to blast some of Deal’s executive moves, which hinge on issues that are rarely controversial. His decision to overhaul the dysfunctional ethics agency and replace it with a 13-member board appointed by the judicial, legislative and executive branches met with widespread acclaim from even his harshest critics.

“I’ve had my criticisms of the executive branch and the legislative branch,” said Julianne Thompson, a prominent tea party leader. “But when somebody does something right, I have to give them credit. I think it’s well thought out and I actually support it.”

Deal won praise for backing the HOPE legislation. And Deal's decision to jump-start the process of legalizing medical marijuana after infighting doomed a legislative push provided his campaign with a ready-made TV moment. As Deal spoke, the emotional parents of an 8-year-old girl who suffers from seizures cheered his decision.

Even as critics say he’s trying to score cheap political points, Deal said he has no regrets. Yet he also views some executive action as a bridge too far. One example: An idea to shift emergency funds or take other administrative action to shore up the ethics agency before lawmakers return in January.

“It’s a balance you have to reach,” the governor said. “But if you try to overstep your authority into an independent agency, that is just cause for criticism. And I have tried to avoid that.”