Washington - President Bush, faced with growing popular dissatisfaction according to new polls, was busy courting political moderates as rival Democrats prepared to take the reins of the US Senate yesterday. Republicans must hand over control of the Senate, which plays a key role in US policy making, following the dramatic announcement last month that Senator Jim Jeffords was quitting his party to become an independent.
This power shift - the first time the 100-seat Senate has switched hands between elections - will give Democrats a critical one-seat majority as well as greater ability to challenge Mr Bush's conservative agenda by controlling what legislation comes to the Senate floor.
Faced with a new political reality, Mr Bush has begun to court moderate Republicans and Democrats, and has invited a group of nine congressmen to the White House to discuss education reform, a congressional source said.
He is also to invite Senator John McCain, his opponent for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, who has frequently clashed with the Bush administration since it came to power in January, and his wife Cindy to dinner.
And tomorrow Mr Bush is to meet the new Senate Majority Leader, Mr Tom Daschle, the White House said.