A One-Man Earthquake

Jim Jeffords' defection from the G.O.P. turned Washington upside down. A guide to the brave new world Bush must now master

When Senator Jim Jeffords bolted from the Republican Party last week, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats and reprogramming the Capitol power grid, it took almost no time for the first signs of the new order to appear. There was White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez cooling his heels outside the Senate chamber until Democrat Patrick Leahy, now the presumptive chairman of the Judiciary Committee, could spare a moment to meet with him. There was the business lobbying group known as Arctic Power, quietly canceling a 10-state, $500,000 radio ad blitz designed to sell Memorial Day motorists on President Bush's...

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