Sacramento -- They are diametrically opposite in style and political ideology, but all eyes in Sacramento are focused on the Senate's two party leaders as they work to craft a budget deal.

In spite of their differences, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, and Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga have taken on the responsibility of reaching a compromise to close the state's $38 billion budget gap.

They seem to know they are the ones to get this budget done. The Assembly attempted to reach a compromise, which broke down when the Democrats could barely get all their members to agree on a plan. Gov. Gray Davis, distracted by efforts to recall him, has had little sway with lawmakers.

"If a budget can't get put together by John and Jim, I don't see it being put together for a long time," said lobbyist Phil Isenberg, a former assemblyman.

Burton and Brulte have worked together in the Assembly and Senate for 13 years. While they admit there isn't much they agree about, there is clearly a warm, respectful relationship.

"Even the liberals in my community would consider John an extremist," Brulte said. "But he is a passionate and honest advocate for his beliefs, and not only do I admire that, I respect it as well."

Burton said of his GOP partner: "He doesn't let his ideology get in the way of trying to solve a problem, but he's not going to compromise his principles to solve one."

LEGACY OF TIRADES
At 70, Burton is old enough to be Brulte's father, and he carries with him a well-known legacy of profanity-laced tirades. He wanders around the Capitol in '70s-style jackets, joking with people, sometimes yelling, but always making a deal happen.

"John Burton is a very, very shrewd politician," Brulte said with clear admiration.

Burton even called Brulte's mother to wish her a happy 80th birthday when he heard her son was having a party in her honor.

The San Francisco Democrat is a liberal from a liberal city, considered to be one of the few defenders of the poor left in Sacramento. Brulte hails from the Inland Empire, where his anti-tax ideology is cheered by constituents.

Brulte, 47, is looking trimmer these days after gastric-bypass surgery last year, but he is still an imposing figure, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 240 pounds.

He favors pinstripe suits and keeps his office looking as if it could be a magazine photo for a model politician's suite.

In contrast, Burton's huge space looks more like a teenager took over the office, with overflowing stacks of paper, CDs, boxes and bowls of fruit and other snacks.

Burton had a stint in Washington, D.C., as a congressman, but he has left the national political scene behind. Meanwhile, Brulte is active in GOP politics, serving as an adviser to President Bush on California affairs.

Even though they are both single, the GOP leader will spend his weekends taking in a round of golf, while Burton sunbathes outside his San Francisco home.

The Senate leaders between them have more than 30 budgets under their belts and know the process has to move forward. When attempts by both sides to get their own plan through failed, they began to talk.

BUDGET THREE WEEKS LATE
Democrats and Republicans have been sparring over how to close the state's gargantuan budget deficit. Republicans, who believe the majority party spent its way into the crisis, have refused to vote for tax increases. Democrats believe there is no other way to close the gap.

The state is now almost three weeks late in getting a budget agreement. Child care centers and trial courts are not getting state funds, and some transportation projects may be threatened.

Burton and Brulte have said they hope to have an agreement as early as this week.

Brulte's respect for Burton came early on, when it was clear he was a force to be reckoned with. In 1993, Brulte was the newly elected Assembly minority leader, while Burton chaired the Assembly Rules Committee, and Willie Brown ruled as Assembly speaker.

Brulte and Brown agreed in budget negotiations with the governor to cut a general assistance program.

"John came up to me and said, 'Assembly Democrats will never support the elimination of general assistance.' I told him I already had an agreement, and he said 'Willie Brown does not speak for Assembly Democrats on that issue,' " Brulte said.

Instead of letting the matter drop, Brulte said, he told Burton they should have elected a leader he could make deals with.

To which, Burton said loudly, in the middle of the Assembly floor "F-- you, Jim Brulte."

Burton, recounting the same story, said he told Brulte to "stick it up his big fat ass."

But either way, Burton won.

"At the end of the day, Willie Brown came into the next Big 5 meeting and told us that the Assembly Democrats would never support the elimination of general assistance," Brulte said. "John Burton was correct; Willie Brown did not speak for Assembly Democrats on that issue."

A TEMPER CALMED
Burton, who has calmed his temper since a heart attack in 1999, says he doesn't direct his profanity at Brulte anymore.

"He and I have to find as much common ground as we can, and you can't do that if you tell someone to go screw himself," he said.

The GOP leader says he simply doesn't want to be the person Burton is yelling at the next time he has a heart attack.

Brulte knows the two-thirds requirement of the budget gives him a unique influence that usually isn't the case.

"John understands that his team is in charge," Brulte said. "If he can get what he wants simply by doing it, he'll do it. If he can get what he wants simply by pressuring, he'll pressure. And if he knows that at the end of the day he can't get everything he wants because he'll have to sit down and reach an agreement, then he will."

Both men know -- that's just the way the institution works.

"It doesn't bother me," Brulte said. "Because at the end of the day, I don't think it is personal."