(CNN) -- As President Obama's second-term Cabinet starts to take shape, we can see some of the outlines of what the White House hopes to do in the next four years. The major theme is that Obama is prepared to defend his turf, tooth and nail. This is a Cabinet whose strength is defense rather than offense. Gone are the hopes of bipartisanship. Now it's time to really engage the partisan battle. Obama won't be pushing for many watershed changes in the next four years, but he is not going to make it easy for Republicans to make any deep inroads into what he has accomplished.
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Julian Zelizer: Obama's Cabinet appointments suggest he's preparing to battle
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He says the president picked tough, wily veterans of Washington
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Zelizer: Kerry, Hagel, Brennan, Lew are committed to Obama's policies
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He says hopes for bipartisanship are gone; now it's partisan warfare
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