Now Comes Porklock

For "Gentleman" Jim Jeffords, those fleeting 15 minutes of fame had finally arrived. A part-time Civil War buff who just happens to be about the most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate, Jeffords sat at his peaceful mountaintop farmhouse near Burlington, Vermont, last week taking half- desperate telephone calls from the likes of Vice President Al Gore, Education Secretary Dick Riley, Labor chief Robert Reich and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. All were calling to persuade Jeffords to vote for Bill Clinton's embattled economic stimulus package when it comes up for a vote this week. The White House left...