As the 2008 session draws to a close with no small amount of pomp and ceremony today, it is a time to reflect upon the marvel that is the modern democratic process. More particularly, it is a time to think about the countless hordes of people at the Capitol who toil every day to grease the cogs in the great machine that is our state government, their pleated khaki pants and skirts billowing softly in the gentle breeze coming in off the Mississippi. For it is not just the Sex Hog who deserves recognition. All who emerge dripping with sweat into the sunlight after months of drafting bills and desperately searching for common ground - even if that common ground consists simply of looking across the aisle gazing longingly at a particularly striking member of the opposition party.

So today, to recognize the profound brilliance, and hotness, that is our public servants at the Capitol, marks the launch of The Defenestrator's first annual "Most Beautiful People at the Capitol". The award recognizes the beauty and brains of all those who will emerge today on the Capitol steps, hungry for the alcohol and thousands of hours of comp time that is their due. And the top 10 most beautiful people at the Capitol, five men and five women, will receive a fabulous prize package and a photo shoot to be featured here, on The Rake. But to find those souls most deserving of this award, we need your help.

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Yes, it's up to you to help determine who the top 10 most beautiful people at the Capitol are. So if a legislative assistant caught your eye from across the aisle, if a fetching intern's work on health care reform dazzled you in its brilliance, if you were stopped in your tracks by a strapping researcher with rippling triceps balancing a daunting stack of books that rivaled any of Hercules' 12 labors, or even if the dizzying smile of a Capitol police officer brought to mind fantasies of being "taken in" for petty larceny, let us know in the comments below (yes, we take anonymous comments) or send us an email at goldsmith@rakemag.com. Simply let us know who at the Capitol, from legislators to interns and lobbyists, fits the bill by Friday, May 30, and we'll tally the votes.

So before you run off to The Liffey to cope with the shock of effective legislative compromise, take a moment to nominate a colleague who toils in obscurity despite their obvious beauty and brains. For what is politics if not yet another quest for beauty, truth, and possibly someone who fills out Dockers in all the right ways?