LATHAM LEAVING BARRETT’S OFFICE FOR GREENER PASTURES

The State’s Brad Warthen used that headline for a story about me last September, so I felt it only appropriate to pass the love along to the 28-year-old beauty who ranked second on this year’s list of the 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill.

Brecke Latham, or “The Girl Next Door” as she was referred to by The Hill, is leaving her post as Rep. Gresham Barrett’s spokesperson to work for Kansas Rep. Jerry Moran.

Moran’s legislative assistant Jason Wien praised Latham for trumpeting Barrett’s ninth-place showing on that list — with his Miss Teen South Carolina-esque “my daddy always told me you can tell a lot about a man by the way his shoes look” routine — and ignoring her own ranking.

But I’m going to go ahead and speculate that having both Barrett and Latham on the list created some not-so-productive inner-office competition complete with hand waiving, finger snapping and hair flipping. “I’m hotter, Brecke.” “No, I’m hotter, Gresh.” “Nuh uh, sister, I came in ninth.” “Well I was number two!” “Ha, you said ‘number two.’”

And that’s basically the reason absolutely nothing gets done in Congress.