50 Most Beautiful Politicians: Weird or Not Weird?

Today is Christmas at Vanity Fair. Also at the Washington Post. Not to mention MediaBistro.

Why? Well, it's the day that congressional publication The Hill reveals its annual “50 Most Beautiful” list of attractive people working in the world of politics in D.C. Juli Weiner of Vanity Fair was the first to compare the event to Jesus’ birthday in a post last night counting down to the publication of the list: “It is like Christmas, Chanukah, and Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s all in one,” she wrote. Wednesday morning, The Washington Post called today “Our Christmas in July”; a few hours later, Media Bistro wrote, “This morning we woke up and it’s like Christmas in July.” Did they also maybe wake up and read the VF and Washington Post articles? Or does Washington actually break out the tinsel when the list comes out?

In any case, there can be no disagreement that people are psyched. 2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the list, which has previously featured Barack Obama, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and Senator Marco Rubio. Six months before the big release, editors at The Hill begin fielding hundreds of nominations from Washington insiders, which they then whittle down to 50 lucky winners. This year’s honorees were evenly split by gender, with a slight advantage to Democrats over Republicans.

Topping the list is Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a 50-year-old married Republican. “Mr. All-American” works out a lot, so that he can enjoy his favorite snack, vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups. Legislative aide-slash-“curly-haired cutie” Julie Goldfarb watches her favorite TV shows at the gym, and wears “minimal makeup.” C-SPAN Production Assistant Chellie Zou, on the other hand, “enjoys wearing makeup and doing her hair.”

Is this weird? Yes, but probably less weird than looking to models and celebs for political endorsements. What would the world look like if we had taken Britney Spears’ advice in 2003? “Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that,” she suggested. Justin Bieber has some thoughts, too: “I’m not sure about the parties,” opined the pop star. “But whatever they have in Korea, that’s bad.”

Personally, I’ll probably stick to getting my beauty advice from Hollywood and my governing from Washington.