It's official: A staffer for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is one of the beautiful people.

David Ward, a Raleigh native who serves as Burr's press secretary, was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill" by D.C. paper The Hill today.

The item on Ward notes the 25-year-old's "swoon-worthy blue eyes" and notes his hobbies:

When not working for the people of North Carolina, Ward travels back to the state he represents to surf and fish. But this might not be often. Ward also reminds us that "the people's work never sleeps."

A Wake Forest graduate, Ward previously worked as an intern to U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx.

Burr's office is something of a Ford Modeling Agency. Last year, his mail manager — a "6-foot-1, tanned, surferesque Republican" — also made the list.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is voting with the Democrats more lately.

The Salisbury Republican has broken with her party more this year than she did in 2007, according to an analysis of her voting record by The Hill, a Washington-based political paper.

Leaving out missed votes and bills that both parties favored, Dole voted against a majority of her party 25.5 percent of the time this year, versus 6.6 percent in 2007, 6.4 percent in the 2005-06 session and 4.3 percent in the 2003-04 session.

Dole was one of seven Republicans who voted for a climate-change bill, among other things:

Some of Dole’s most significant breaks with the GOP include backing a Democratic economic stimulus measure, supporting Medicare legislation that Bush vetoed, endorsing an amendment to expand children's healthcare coverage to pregnant women and voting for an expansive amendment to lengthen dwell-time for troops before they return to Iraq.

In an interview with the paper, Dole said that she is voting for what's "best for the people of my state," saying she was not moving to the middle because of the upcoming election.

Democratic opponent Kay Hagan's campaign e-mailed a link to the story to reporters.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole had to change planes recently.

The first version of a recent ad for the Salisbury Republican boasts of her work helping North Carolina's military bases avoid closure during the BRAC process.

But as the liberal Senate Guru blog and D.C.-based newspaper The Hill pointed out, stock footage in the ad showed a French plane — a Dassault Super Étendard (top image).

A second version of the ad substituted an all-American F-15 (bottom image).

"Basically, our media consultant used the wrong stock footage, but it was corrected," Dole spokesman Hogan Gidley told the newspaper.

The campaign of rival Democrat Kay Hagan used the flub to argue Dole was out of touch.

"I imagine she’s celebrating Bastille Day today, as well," Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan told The Hill.

Update: Dole's campaign issued a statement:

"While Kay Hagan is focused on little gotchas, slipper parties and lurking around gas stations, Senator Dole is campaigning on her long record of delivering results for North Carolina and has an actual plan to improve the economy and bring down gas prices," Gidley said in a statement.

A D.C.-based paper asked all 97 senators if they'd agree to be vice president.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole had this to say to The Hill:

"I'm running for reelection to the United States Senate and that's what I'm totally focused on. I'm running a strong campaign for the Senate. That's my answer."

And Sen. Richard Burr had this to say:

"I don’t answer that question anymore. I answered it one time and it got me in tremendous trouble. I'vve got a job I enjoy and I'm not in search of a new job. Period."