Sandra
Deal
with Gov. Nathan Deal at Deal's
inaugural gala, May 2, 2011
The four month
postponement of Nathan Deal's inaugural
gala gave his guests a reason to
celebrate more than an ascent to power.
When Gov. Deal worked the room, his
admirers saw a man who'd tackled issues
like immigration and the listing hope
scholarship program in his first four
months -- and did it with the prowess of
a veteran executive.
"So I think he's off to a
great start and I think he's doing a
good job," said Tharon Johnson, who's a
Democrat who worked for
Atlanta
Mayor Kasim Reed until recently. Yet
Johnson counts himself among those
impressed with the Republican
governor's first four months in office.
"I think it's inclusion,"
said Johnson. "I think if you look at
every single major issue, the governor
has done a really good job of making
suire not just Democrats but
Republicans, Tea Party (members and)
Libertarians have a seat at the table
and have a tremendous amount of input."
And that's a theme we
heard often at Deal's inaugural party --
that the conservative Republican mostly
didn't let doctrine block dialogue.
"He has been willing to
listen," said House Speaker David
Ralston of Blue Ridge. "He has been
receptive to other ideas. He's reached
across the aisle."
When asked to grade
himself, Deal told us he would give
himself an A. But he added "it's
not just me. It's the cooperation of
the General Assembly that made it
possible."
A noisy group nearby took
exception, as they demonstrated to
encourage Deal to veto an immigration
bill he has already vowed to sign.
"If he is inclusive, we
should have a dialogue about the issue,"
said Georgina Perez of the
Georgia
Undocumented Youth Alliance, which
demonstrated outside the gala.
Still, it was mostly a
night to celebrate -- both an ascent to
power, and a track record.