Talking to a friend last night, I heard the following thesis from him. (For all I know it may already have been well aired; but it was new to me.)

George W. Bush’s second-tier (i.e., below cabinet rank) administrative appointments tended to favor people who were to the right of W himself. There were exceptions of course, but that was the tendency, according to my pal.

Obama’s corresponding appointments have been to the left of Obama. Thus a lot of federal agencies have undergone a huge leftward swing, to the great delight of left-activist bureaucrats.

I’d be curious to know what more clued-in colleagues think about this. My friend deals mostly with the FDA, where he says this “magnification effect” has been very noticeable. Does it apply to other parts of the federal bureaucracy?

This is one very happy bureaucrat, for sure.