President Obama’s task in his inaugural address was to unify the country behind his leadership, so he did not give a partisan speech. He made several nods to post-partisanship, as when he pledged to get past “stale political arguments” and “worn-out dogmas”–pledges that both of his predecessors also made. But Obama does not consider the dogmas of liberalism worn out, as his speech made clear. From the financial crisis he draws the lesson that “the market can spin out of control” when it is not kept under the “watchful eye” of government. One need not deny that government has a vital regulatory role to recognize ideology masquerading as thought. The new president is also a man enthralled by his own novelty: We are to start taking care of our poor, and the poor of the world, and respecting our constitutional ideals. He matches contemporary liberalism’s self-regard with his own. His congressional majorities are strong, but his ambition will tax them. He is placing a large and expensive bet on a stimulus plan that seems highly unlikely to work as advertised: Even Washington, D.C., may not be capable of spending money quite as quickly as Obama wants. Then, having put the economy back on track toward growth, he intends to tackle climate change by limiting carbon emissions and to further federalize health care. At some point he says he will also tackle the insolvency of our entitlement programs. These vast tasks conflict with one another, and not only in terms of time management; and Obama’s history of leading a large organization begins and ends with his presidential campaign. Nor does this list exhaust Obama’s goals. He also wants to defeat our enemies and keep us safe, to retain the applause of the world, to raise taxes, to win reelection, to appoint liberal judges, and to strengthen our alliances. Conservatives should hope that he succeeds in some respects and fails in others.