Editor’s Note: We are very excited to announce that Evan is join­ing us as a con­trib­u­tor from the right side of the aisle.

When Can­di­date Barack Obama was run­ning for pres­i­dent in 2007 and 2008, he drew a dis­tinct con­trast with the Bush Admin­is­tra­tion. Agree or dis­agree with his plat­form, it was clear to all that elect­ing Obama would rep­re­sent a clear change in direc­tion.

The tran­si­tion of admin­is­tra­tions is a mon­u­men­tal task. Thou­sands of jobs change hands and poli­cies change over a few short months. There is always at least a par­tial man­date for the new lead­er­ship to push in a new direc­tion, but 2008 was thought of as a water­shed moment. In real­ity, the changes were few, and con­ti­nu­ity was main order of the day. The ship of state is a large ocean liner — turn­ing it in a new direc­tion is no small feat. The result is that admin­is­tra­tions rarely reflect a frac­tion of the change that they cam­paigned on. (more…)