By Gail Shister:

Heard any dumb blond Republican jokes lately, Aaron Sorkin?

The new GOP staffer in The West Wing's Democratic White House is based "on the new breed of young, blond, leggy conservatives who don't know anything," says Sorkin, "but morning-show producers seem to like them."

So does Sorkin, creator of NBC's hit sophomore drama.

That's why he came up with razor-sharp Republican pundit Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), who last week agreed - albeit reluctantly - to join President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) staff as associate White House counsel.

Hayes is a composite, according to Sorkin, of real-life Republican sage-ettes Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter and South Jersey's Kellyanne Fitzpatrick, a pollster.

By sheer coincidence, they all happen to be young, blond, conservative and leggy.

Hayes' addition was no accident. NBC had asked Sorkin to introduce a 20-ish, "sexy-looking," female character to attract more young female viewers to The West Wing, he explains.

No problem. NBC "has been nothing but fantastic to me and this show. They make absolutely no knucklehead requests. I wanted to oblige."

After a four-episode run, Hayes will return as a recurring character for the remainder of the season. She was created to present a different - not necessarily Republican - point of view, Sorkin insists.

This, despite the addition this season of two GOP heavyweights as consultants: Marlin Fitzwater, press secretary to Presidents Reagan and Bush, and Peggy Noonan, Reagan and Bush speechwriter.

They join Democrats Dee Dee Myers, President Clinton's ex-press secretary; pollster Patrick Caddell; and pundit Lawrence O'Donnell, all brought in last season.

"I would have hired Peggy if she belonged to the American Communist Party," Sorkin says. "She's a great writer and a reasonable person. Marlin is a smart person who knows what he's talking about."

Sorkin's input from the duo - strictly by e-mail - "is rarely about party affiliation. It's about a different point of view, not a Republican point of view."

On the other hand, Sorkin wasn't blind to the fact that hiring some big-name Republicans would show the public that The West Wing "isn't just a liberal soapbox."

"I said, 'Let's look at another drawer in the desk.' There wasn't a star Republican who didn't want the job," including Bob Dole and John Dean. Contrary to industry buzz, buying a few Republicans for The West Wing "doesn't have anything to do" with the possible election Tuesday of George W. Bush.

"The show is fiction. It's what goes on behind the castle walls. It has nothing to do with real events. It has as little to do with the Clinton administration as the Buchanan administration."

With two years to go until his re-election, Sheen's President Bartlet won't suddenly turn Republican if George W. wins, Sorkin promises.

As for Procter (Body Shots), her character provides "a nice sound for that conservative voice. She's genuinely patriotic . . . a likable woman. We root for her.

"Ordinarily, we're rooting for our characters against other characters. We wanted to make a Republican one of us."

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