71.   Some Republican consultants also welcomed the move.

72.   Such staff shifting is common and necessary, one Republican consultant said.

73.   Stephen A. Salmore, a Republican consultant and professor of politics at Rutgers University, agreed.

74.   Steve Merksamer, a Republican political consultant, said he hates going to any inauguration.

75.   Stuart Stevens, a Republican consultant, who advised Whitman in her unsuccessful bid against Bradley for the Senate, concurred.

76.   That view was echoed by Republican consultant Reggie Bashur, who served the administrations of former Govs.

77.   That is the strategy that several Republican political consultants said will best enable the speaker to restore his image.

78.   The group is headed by George Gorton, a longtime Republican consultant with close ties to former Gov. Pete Wilson of California.

79.   The man in charge of crushing the hopes of Hillary Rodham Clinton is not your typical Republican consultant.

80.   The message may not resonate with enough California voters, said Allan Hoffenblum, a Los Angeles-based Republican political consultant.