More from that damn Frist article:

Dr. Frist, who has represented Tennessee in the Senate since 1995, is also enjoying something of a honeymoon among moderate Republicans, the result of assiduous efforts not to isolate a group of senators who will play a vital role in shaping compromises on taxes and Medicare. Even as the leader steers the Senate's agenda rightward, moderate Republican senators say he meets far more often with them, soliciting their views and making them feel valued, than did Mr. Lott.

"Last week, he met with several of us for an hour and let us raise questions about the size and the content of the administration's economic stimulus bill," said Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine and a centrist leader. "If senators feel they're consulted, even if they don't prevail in the end, it makes for a better feeling in the conference."

Haven't we seen this movie before? Remember that really, really nice guy George W. Bush assiduously courting Democrats and moderate Republicans in his first few months in office -- while refusing to give an inch on any significant aspect of his extremely conservative agenda?

But even some top Democrats find it hard not to like the 43rd president.

He's courteous, hospitable and his words reflect unusual humility for one whose job makes him the most powerful man in the world.

He has said one of his top goals is to change the tone of discourse in Washington. And he thinks he's succeeding.

"There is a culture of respect that's beginning to emerge in Washington," he said Wednesday in Arkansas. "I'm beginning to notice that the rhetoric is toning down just a little bit."

In pursuit of that goal, the president on Monday will mark his first 100 days in office by inviting all 535 members of Congress to lunch at the White House.

In another stab at humility, a spokesman says Mr. Bush wants Congress to know he regards this period as "our" first hundred days and not "his" first hundred days....

That's Mark Knoller of CBS News on April 27, 2001. And remember Bush and dyed-in-the-wool-liberal Alexandra Pelosi, maker of the documentary Journeys with George?

He found the loudmouthed girl and her camera amusing, and though he never forgot she was The Enemy, he charmed her back....

[Pelosi said,] "...The relationship I had with Bush was like the great … he was seducing me and I was luring him in, and he was trying to seduce me, and it was this beautiful dance...."

Why do people fall for this crap?