One of President Obama’s political talents is his ability to portray any sort of trouble as something that only affects lesser mortals. This lets him appear to be gliding through his Presidency as if everything bad that happens is someone else’s worry, not to mention someone else’s fault. His end-of-year press conference on Friday was typical in that he batted away questions like a President whose job approval were 57%, not 42%.

Down in the polls? “I have now been in office five years—close to five years . . . I think this room has probably recorded at least 15 near-death experiences.”

ObamaCare woes? “The basic structure of that law is working despite all the problems—despite the website problems, despite the messaging problems. Despite all that, it’s working.”

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John Podesta Associated Press

Agenda going nowhere in Congress? “There’s a lot of focus on legislative activity at the congressional level, but even when Congress doesn’t move on things they should move on, there are a whole bunch of things that we’re still doing.”

On that last point he’s right, and that’s where his new adviser John Podesta comes in. After he left the Clinton Administration, Mr. Podesta founded the Center for American Progress, a Beltway think tank with a hard liberal and partisan Democratic edge. ObamaCare, nationalizing the college loan market, slashing the defense budget, a new preschool entitlement, and using regulation to punish fossil fuels: These were all pushed by the Podesta policy shop.

His new job in the White House will be to press that agenda via regulation no matter what Congress says or does. Mr. Podesta gave a flavor of his politics when he recently told Politico that Mr. Obama should “focus on executive action, given that they are facing a second term against a cult worthy of Jonestown in charge of one of the houses of Congress.” Mr. Podesta later apologized for what he called “my snark,” but you get the idea.

The Podesta hire signals that Mr. Obama will move even more toward rule by executive fiat and confrontation with Republicans. Mr. Obama says he still wants immigration reform, but the Podesta choice suggests that what he really wants is to use the issue against Republicans to gain Democratic seats in 2014. Do not expect a new era of political compromise.