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Barack Obama does not walk on water. Neither is he a 21st-century Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy or Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Yet millions of Americans, egged on by the media, seem to be laboring under that illusion. A recent cover of Time magazine depicted Obama as a jaunty FDR wearing a fedora, clenching a cigarette holder between his teeth and smiling with exuberant optimism.

Lincoln (Civil War), FDR (the Great Depression, World War II) and Kennedy (Cuban Missile Crisis) were all confronted with monumental crises and triumphed. We're living in another desperate time that calls for a hero to rescue us. So Obama, without asking for it, has been anointed Superman.

All he's expected to do -- preferably in the fabled First Hundred Days -- is solve the global financial crisis; win wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; track down Osama bin Laden; shut down Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs; reform our health care system; clean up the environment; and unite all Americans.

Obama has told aides he worries about disappointing the American people. And he may feel an even heavier burden to succeed because he is our first African American president.

He has wisely warned that success will not come with rushing speed. "It is not going to be quick, and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in," he has said.

Yet he also exudes a much-needed FDR optimism ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"). On election night, Obama said, "I have never had more hope for our country than I have now."

Obama also stressed that our Constitution provides for only one president, and he's not it. So his hands are tied until Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, he is assembling his new team. Hillary Clinton for secretary of state? When I first heard that possibility, I thought it was a pretty good idea. She's smart, savvy and has gravitas on the international stage. He would also be pleasing Hillary's voters.

Most important, he would be saying to the world: "America is back! We want to embrace internationalism once again and not snub the world like some arrogant bully on the block. And that's why I've appointed a famous American woman to lead the charge.''

But then I had second thoughts. Hillary comes with baggage. Namely, Bill. He runs his own foreign policy- related foundation, Clinton Global Initiatives, which works on everything from treating AIDS in Africa to promoting peace. And it's funded by people and countries that might conflict with U.S. foreign policy.

But his financial affairs are only part of the problem. Here's the other: As a former president, Bill ran America's foreign policy for eight years. Don't expect him to zip his lip if Hillary lands the job. And what if Bill's views differ from President Obama's?

Obama will have enough problems on his platter without having to sort out Bill and Hillary and wondering which one is running the State Department.

Meanwhile, what of the bloodied Republican Party? Therein lies another illusion. If Obama has been anointed Superman, the GOP has been pronounced near-dead.

Conservative columnists are diagnosing the causes and prescribing miracle cures. The best (and funniest) was written by syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker and published Wednesday in this newspaper.

Parker said the GOP's biggest reason for blowing it is the religious right, "an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.'' GOP candidates pander to the religious right, turning off independents and moderate Republicans. Wrote Parker: "Either the Republican Party needs a new base -- or the nation may need a new party."

She forgot to mention another reason the GOP got trounced: eight years of George W. Bush. (Enough said.)

What should be said, however, is that the Republican Party will return. Just as the Democrats wandered in the political wilderness for years, the GOP will find its way out.

Meanwhile, President-elect Obama -- otherwise known as Abe, JFK, FDR or Superman -- is waiting on the launch pad, preaching patience but instilling hope.

Rosemary Roberts writes a Friday column. E-mail: rmroberts@triad.rr.com.