Frist in Descent

A Time article describes Bill Frist's apparently descending position as the Senate Majority Leader for the GOP.

When asked on Frist's performance as Majority leader one Senator said "I hear he was a pretty good surgeon."

"He'll disappear," said a Republican consultant. "He's not built for heavy weather. He's just not an instinctive politician. And when you're a light candidate, every maneuver seems naked and tactical. With Frist, it's been college Republican sort of stuff."

He has been criticized from within his own ranks for his moves as majority leader. Are these intraparty attacks against Frist (and those against McCain) opportunitistic politics in a political party where everyone is jostling for a position as the next Republican Presidential Candidate, are they the result of a party merely recognizing that it has poorly selected its leaders (DeLay, Bush, Rove, Lott, etc.), or is there true discontent within the party of those at its helm?