It’s now clear that it’s important to all Americans – including those whose feelings about the Bush administration include apologetic thoughts about James Buchanan – that the president’s poll ratings go no lower.

Because if the president’s approval drops another three points, who knows what the target of the next proposed constitutional amendment will be.

My guess would be witches.

True, when you count the votes, the Senate is not about to pass a constitutional amendment against witches.

But the Senate wasn’t going to pass an amendment against gay marriage either, which didn’t keep the leadership from taking up three days this week posturing on the issue before Wednesday’s vote.

You could also argue that the republic isn’t exactly threatened by an outbreak of witches.

But then it’s also hard to find many examples of flag burning, which hasn’t stopped Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from declaring it an imminent danger that Congress can’t ignore.

Surveys have found a total of one U.S. flag burning over the past year – driven not by politics, but alcohol – but the majority leader stands his ground regarding the need for SJR 12, his flag-desecration amendment.

As he explained to Fox News, “When you look at that flag and then you tell me that right now people in this country are saying it’s OK to desecrate that flag and to burn it and to not pay respect to it – is that important to our values as a people when we’ve got 130,000 people fighting for our freedom and liberty today? That is important.”

More important than trying to figure out how we ever get those 130,000 troops out of there. Dealing with real problems is way too tough for the administration and the Senate. Better to confront problems that don’t exist, like flag burning.

Which gets us back to witches – especially since there is now about an equal chance that a flag will be burned as that it will be turned into a toad.

If the president’s approval rating drops to, say, 28 percent, it’s not hard to imagine a press conference in the Rose Garden – with a range of religious broadcasters, a candle, a jar of bat intestines and Frist – to announce the Defense Against Dark Arts (DADA) Amendment.

It would be the kickoff of a midterm election TV campaign showing Democratic congressional candidates morphing into black cats, and charging that their other car is a broom. Although, Republicans might want to stay away from issues of fuel economy.

Could the witch issue work as well in rallying the president’s base as gay marriage or flag burning? Will a witch work as a wedge?

Don’t expect the idea to vanish.

After all, the last time Republicans won a key midterm election, they did it with an eye of Newt.