A hero of public policy? She can't be. Mere mortal heroes don't have much staying power in Washington. Superman didn't have to worry about Congress, or about public opinion. Superman wasn't subject to popularity polls. After skirmishes with Members of Congress, Superman could fly off to the North Pole to cool off. He wouldn't have to face Lex Luthor at Washington dinner parties.

And a feminist role model she isn't. Pinning any feminist hopes on a First Lady is a mistake. The Quarterly's poem may declare Hillary a statue of liberty ("she lifts her torch/to all women: "Don't just sit on the porch--"), but she is hardly a NOW poster child.

When Wellesley College invited Barbara Bush to speak at its commencement, students protested that she would not have been chosen had she been married to anyone but the President. Her achievements represented an outdated brand of female success.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, a successful attorney and children's rights activist, might be more palatable to Wellesley students. But it's important to remember that Clinton is only the object of national attention because her husband ran for president--and won. The First Lady shouldn't be a model for American women. Catapulted into fame and glory simply because of your marriage? That smacks of royalty. It's like marrying into superpower; wouldn't it be best to earn it all on your own?

Superheroes are like most campaign promises--too good to be true, and a little disingenuous. Pinning any unrealistic hopes on the First Lady, be they tied to children's rights, education or health care, would be a mistake. Certainly, Hillary Clinton has achieved much in the past. Her Quality Education Commission in Arkansas brought real reforms. But Arkansas isn't Washington, where Hillary's position is far more embattled.

Some may, unfortunately, mistrust her because she's a woman. Others, more justifiably, may mistrust her because of her political agenda, which is different from the one on which her husband was narrowly elected. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a powerful Washington figure who is democratically unaccountable and can neither be fired nor impeached. That's enough to give anyone pause.

Maybe the editors of "The Hillary Clinton Quarterly" haven't completely bought into their own hero worship. Perhaps it's precisely the I-told-you-so thrill that earned Hillary her own magazine. And if the editors aren't gleefully awaiting the First Lady's eventual fall from grace, maybe they should be. A tainted Hillary would be a boon for subscriptions--just ask the former editors of the "Quayle Quarterly."

Joanna M. Weiss, the editorial chair of The Crimson, never owned a pair of Wonder Woman Underoos. Honest.