Georgia’s Democratic Governor is Roy Barnes. Roy Barnes, an ex-lawmaker, helped to pass with remarkable speed a bill to alter the state flag. Civil rights leaders and others praised Barnes’ accomplishments at the time. Barnes lost his reelection bid to Republican Sonny Perdue a year later. Perdue campaigned on the promise to let Georgians vote on whether to restore the state flag that was taken at Barnes’ request. Perdue, as governor, was successful in pushing for legislation to establish a flag referendum. Perdue failed to get the Legislature to approve placing the flag with the Confederate battle emblem on the ballot. Georgian voters adopted the flag based on the Confederacy’s first official flag, but not the Battle Cross that was most closely linked to the South during the Civil War. The flag approved was dominated by red and white, with 13 stars in a circle at the upper left corner. This circle is believed to represent Georgia’s original 13 colonies. The Georgia state seal is located in that circle, along with the familiar words “In God We Trust.” Barnes’ efforts were viewed as a success because the symbol of hate and racism was removed. The replacement of the flag was a major factor in Barnes’ defeat. It angered many Georgians and is now considered one of his main reasons for not being re-elected. Mississippi’s former Democratic Governor. Ronnie Musgrove established a flag commission. After a series of contentious meetings, the commission recommended that Mississippians vote on whether to adopt the old flag with its Confederate cross or a new design. Some suggested that the commission should have recommended to the Legislature that the flag be changed. Remember that in 2000, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the state didn’t have an official flag. This was because the Legislature had not included the flag statute in its renewal of laws in the early 1900s. This oversight was apparently overlooked for many decades. This was supposed to be corrected in 2001. With 64 percent of the vote, the Legislature approved holding the flag referendum. The old flag won the referendum by a clear majority. One member of the House lamented the recent controversy about the Mississippi flag and said that it would have been easier to amend it now if it had not been on the 2001 ballot. He said that the referendum established a precedent which makes it difficult for legislators not to ignore the voters on this combustible topic. The truth is, there wasn’t an easy or even possible way to change the flag in 2001. For those who wanted a new flag, it might have been better to wait and see if there was a better way. Today, nearly all Democrats, both black and white, support changing the flag. This was not true in 2001, when Democrats controlled both chambers. He wanted a referendum. It would have been much more difficult to get a Senate proposal through. Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, the presidency officer, was the only of seven elected Democrats in the state to not endorse the new flag. She ran for and won her second term in lieutenant governor, this time as a Republican. The irony of it all is that Musgrove’s opponent in his reelection campaign, Republican Haley Barbour, beat Musgrove over the flag issue just as Perdue did Barnes. Musgrove was only hammered because he tried to change the banner. Barnes was criticized for trying to change it._x000D