Politics 1-800-Pound Guerrillas

Call it the Touch-Tone Rebellion, the Phone P-for-Protest Uprising or the 800-Number Insurrection.

Just six months ago, a mad-as-hell voter enraged at the mess in Washington and disgusted by compromising politicians in both parties would phone his favorite radio-talk-show host to vent his throw-the-bums-out spleen. Now that same populist rage is dialing right into the political system -- right into the volatile center of the 1992 presidential race -- and mainstream politicians from Bill Clinton to George Bush are all but cursing the invention of toll-free telephone numbers.

Jerry Brown, the flamed-out former California Governor, derided by Democratic insiders as a...