Why Democrats will play influential role in Gov. Deal’s second...

Gov. Nathan Deal ushered in his second term in office Monday with a call for Georgians to unite over common political ground and embark on consensus-driven changes rooted in his first term in office.

Deal made no mention of the partisan debate over President Barack Obama’s health care expansion or the brewing fight over whether to raise taxes to fund transportation improvements.

Instead, the governor promised to put a statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the statehouse grounds and pledged new criminal justice changes.

If the message of bipartisanship sounds familiar, that’s because it is. But it also underscores a strategic imperative for Deal and other Republicans: Although Republicans swept every statewide office, they’ll need Democratic help to succeed with their top legislative priorities this year. And plenty of it.

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