From Counselor to Consultant

Weber wished his friend well and noted that C&W is in the market for some new lobbyists -- Democrats and Republicans.

"No offense to my Democratic friends, but we follow the election," he said, referring to the greater number of Republicans at his shop.

The senior Democrat at C&W is now Sandra K. Stuart , assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs in the Clinton administration. The other Democrat is Niles L. Godes , former chief of staff to Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.).

"We definitely want to maintain a bipartisan firm," Stuart said.

Still Room for Democrats

Democrats are continuing to find jobs off the Hill despite the K Street Project's best efforts to convince trade groups and other lobbying operations of the greater desirability of Republicans.

The latest case in point: The Securities Industry Association has hired Roger M. Hollingsworth , deputy chief of staff to Sen. Jon S. Corzine (D-N.J.), as vice president and director of federal government affairs.

On the Hill, Hollingsworth worked on issues important to the financial services industry, including terrorism risk insurance and the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Shifting Gears

Craig Brownstein , vice president for media relations at Edelman Public Relations Worldwide , generally works on big policy stuff. He handled the media campaign for the release of the Sept. 11 commission report. But there's nothing wrong with a little change.

He's now assisting the families of Josh Long and Troy Driscoll, the two teenagers who were rescued off the North Carolina coast last weekend after they spent six days adrift in the Atlantic Ocean without food or fresh water. The families have been swamped with media requests, book deals and such.

A South Carolina law firm brought in to help called someone in D.C. and "it was six-degrees-of-separation referral that brought my name up," Brownstein said.

"Right now, we're letting everyone just step back and allow the kids and their families to catch their breath, heal and recover and see how they want to proceed," he said.

Furthermore . . .

Martin Whitme r and Tom Worrall , two Washington hands, have set up shop as -- what else? -- Whitmer & Worrall .

Whitmer was deputy chief of staff at the Department of Transportation and earlier was at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and was an aide to then-Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.). Worrall was head of the technology practice of the Rhoads Group (formerly Boland & Madigan ). He raised big bucks for the Bush presidential campaign.

Jon Deuser , chief of staff to Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and earlier an aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will be joining the Smith-Free Group May 24.

Michael Liu , former assistant secretary for public and Indian housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is joining Dutko Wor ldwide as senior vice president.