Ben Smith writes that former Clinton staffer and Simpson-Bowles deficit commission director Bruce Reed‘s hiring is a “move toward Clintonism” and “another early signal that the next two years are going to be a determined move to the middle.”
I don’t doubt that’s true, but there’s no Democratic majority in the House anymore. It’s not like Obama could move very far to the left even if he wanted to. It’s also not like Democrats have a really deep bench when it comes to the executive branch. Clinton was the last Democratic president, and you have to reach back more than thirty years to find a Democratic White House staffer who didn’t work for Clinton. Who else would the administration be hiring if they were looking for prior with prior experience working for a Democratic president?
