Having cancer has not made him any less of a douchebag, is what I think.
So he's learned not to repeat the mistakes of Lee Atwater....
After the [1988 presidential] election, Atwater was named chairman of the Republican National Committee. This appointment was controversial, but Atwater's time as chairman was short, for in 1990, he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
Shortly before his death from a brain tumor he said he had converted to Catholicism, [through the help of Fr. John Hardon, SJ][2],and, in an act of repentance, issued a number of public and written apologies to individuals whom he had attacked during his political career, including Dukakis. In a letter to Tom Turnipseed dated June 28, 1990, he stated, "It is very important to me that I let you know that out of everything that has happened in my career, one of the low points remains the so called 'jumper cable' episode," adding, "my illness has taught me something about the nature of humanity, love, brotherhood and relationships that I never understood, and probably never would have. So, from that standpoint, there is some truth and good in everything."
eta: He wrote in Life in 1991:
My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The '80s were about acquiring -- acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.
Impressive turnaround for a mega-douchebag....