Peevish, dissatisfied, weary and dismissive: That’s how the conservative base feels about their president. Granted, they think Bush is better than Hillary, who they believe should be skywriting “Surrender Dorothy” over the Emerald City. But a politician eager to capture the nomination for ‘08 would do well to ask:

After six years of one-party rule, what does the base have besides some peeling bumper stickers and a few judicial appointments? What consolation do they clutch to their bosom? For the last few years the Republican base wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Katrina reconstruction has been contracted to Dubai firms, and Harriet Miers will oversee the work. Could it get worse?

Of course.

Take the PR consequences of Iraq. For the GOP, it’s become the elephant’s graveyard. As long as the war seems to be fought with one eye toward tut-tutting editorials in the French press, the “surge” strategy won’t enthuse the base. Instead of having 60 troops forbidden to fire on a mosque that’s hiding snipers, now 120 troops will be forbidden! Good luck with that. The base, however, will wait and see, because the alternative is ignominious withdrawal. And that’s not scheduled until President Clinton greets the last troop ship under her own “Mission Accomplished” banner.

There’s little relief on the domestic front. If there were some grand Rovian scheme to peel off moderate Democrats with pork and candy, it hasn’t worked. The federal education budget is up almost 80 percent. The prescription drug plan will cost more than half a trillion dollars over a decade, and Democrats in the last election still ran ads with whimpering seniors who had to sell the house to buy Bufferin.

All the base wants now is the occasional veto. Gosh, he’s done it once! He could do it again! The Democrats want Army tanks to be towed by Prius cars to stop global warming? Veto. New taxes? Veto. In the first 100 hours, after all, the new Democratic majority changed the rules to allow a simple majority – emphasis on “simple,” at least in terms of economic intelligence – to raise taxes. Of course this has nothing to do with their intentions, just as lowering the age of consent doesn’t encourage randy old goats to find child brides.

The new Congress also passed “pay-go,” which requires raising taxes or cutting other spending to pay for new initiatives. Note: For many Democrats, this is not the barrier it might seem. A conference committee might propose expanding Head Start down to the fetal level, which would require 100,000 new bilingual ultrasound technicians, which would mean a 2.375 percent surcharge on Tickle Me Elmo dolls, phased in over six years and adjusted for inflation with the total rate capped at 23 percent of the estimated eBay resale price. End result: In 10 years, the ultrasound technicians join the teachers union; in 30 years the Washington Post runs a story about their underfunded pensions; in 40 years a study proves that fetal education has had no effect whatsoever; come the next election, the Democrats accuse the Republicans of sacrificing the nation’s future because they cut the rate of increase in the Fetal Head Start Program by 9 percent.

You could just as well flip the parties, to be fair. It seems the Republicans have more nannies than headmistresses these days. But the GOP is still predictable on taxes, right?

We’ll see. There are murmurings that the Bush administration might consider lifting the wage cap on Social Security taxes. (Note to the president: Read your father’s lips. No new taxes.) There are suggestions that the Dems might outflank the GOP with crafty renovations of the alternative minimum tax, targeting middle-class entrepreneurs, and stripping away the GOP’s disaffected libertarian-leaning voters. Two years of playing possum could set up the Democrats nicely for ‘08, especially if they huff and puff about spending.

Perhaps the only thing that would salvage the president’s tattered reputation with his base would be impeachment proceedings. Worked for Bill Clinton; he couldn’t be more loved today. To which the base would grumble: Bush would probably resign to foster a spirit of bipartisanship.

Cynics! Whatever made you lose your faith?