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.]