Roundtable Setup Left Some Republicans Feeling Like Squares

"They both realized that they have to get along to succeed," said a former leadership aide who knows them well.

Take Hoyer's meeting on Tuesday with committee chairmen, a weekly event chaired by Hoyer that at one time no one could have imagined Pelosi relinquishing. According to one source at the meeting, Hoyer unequivocally defended Pelosi's decision to create a select committee on global warming, beating back complaints from unhappy chairmen concerned about turf.

But Pelosi is the one who has made the more significant turnaround, Hill sources say.

For reasons that are still unclear to many Democrats, Pelosi kept Hoyer at a distance as her No. 2 when they were in the minority. But members thought the partnership nonetheless worked well and were shocked when she aggressively supported Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) for majority leader.

After Hoyer trounced her guy, and after she was elected speaker, observers say her attitude toward Hoyer changed. Most unexpectedly, Pelosi was comfortable sharing power with him, giving him voice in committee assignments and full rein on the floor schedule.

"What you're seeing," said someone close to her, "is Nancy coming into her own. She more confident, more relaxed. She doesn't think he's submarining her anymore." Stay tuned.

Some Days It's Just Not Worth Going to Work

Freshman Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin seems to have gotten off to a rocky start back home, not fully comprehending how his every utterance is now news.

His problems started when the allergist-turned- legislator jokingly told some local antiwar activists last month that he aggressively confronted Karl Rove in a White House men's room. "You're in the White House and think you're safe, huh?" Kagen told the activists, according to a report in a monthly alternative publication.

"You recognize me? My name's Dr. Multimillionaire, and I kicked your [expletive]."

Kagen also said that he blocked Rove's exit in the bathroom of the White House and then deliberately called Laura Bush "Barbara" to insult her.

By the time the odd remarks were picked up by the mainstream media, they were reported as fact -- along with a White House response calling Kagen's account "ridiculous."

Confronted at a news conference about the remarks, Kagen awkwardly backed away from them, saying he was "thrilled" to meet the president and first lady and never insulted anybody. But he declined to clarify what did happen, and the brouhaha wouldn't die as the media continued to chronicle Kagen's various versions of his White House excursion.