As he is a Times political reporter, we’ve probably written (or thought) a number of nasty things about Mark Leibovich. We’re past all that now, because he’s written an absolutely beautiful Katherine Harris profile. Here’s but a sampling:

Once Ms. Harris wins her race for a Senate seat, she says, she plans to travel everywhere with a guide dog.

Yeah, that’s right. Katherine Harris — who is not, 1908 Sears & Roebuck catalog wardrobe aside, actually blind — will be using a seeing-eye dog. Until she fires it in a fit of pique and it starts giving anonymous quotes trashing her to Dan Balz. Also, Harris already works in the Capitol. Why wait until she’s on the other end of the building before getting a dog? Is the Senate side just harder to find your way around in?

More — so, so much more — after the jump.

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Today’s Wonk’d brings us Hu Jintao, guarded like the superpower leader that he is, and Chris Rock — also being guarded, but maybe for different reasons. Jenna Bush and friends were seen, shockingly, waiting their turn in line, but the guys from Franz Ferdinand had ladies waiting in line for them. Media elites Tucker Carlson and David Gregory, ignoring high gas prices, were fillin’ ‘er up. Also spotted: Chelsea Clinton, hiding behind the latest fashions; R. Kelly, trying to get himself in more trouble; and John Ashcroft, ACTUALLY TAKING THE METRO. We deliver what we promise, plus so much more, after the jump.

We love our tipsters and all your hilarious tips, so please keep sending them to us via email, with “Wonk’d” or “Sighting” in the subject line (along with the name of the spotted celeb). Thanks!

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Thanks for all your guesses in response to yesterday’s blind item about a southern Republican congressman who has found himself in a bit of trouble. We won’t pass on the correctness or incorrectness of your guesses; we’ll just pass them along, with minimal comment.

Here was one of the better responses:

Oh God, oh God, oh God! Please, please, please let it be Jeff Sessions! And please let his mistress be John Cornyn!

Sorry to disappoint you, dear reader. But it can’t be Jeff Sessions, since he’s a senator rather than a representative. Points for creativity, though!

More guesses, after the jump.

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• Reliable Source: People magazine puts Patrick Fitzgerald under “Smart Guys” in their “Sexiest Man” issue. . . Ted Koppel can do strong impressions of Henry Kissinger and Barbara Walters. [WP]
• Under the Dome: Dean Barkley, who was tapped to serve out Paul Wellstone’s term, now manages Kinky Friedman’s campaign for governor of Texas. . . Eight people show up for Rep. David Hobson’s (R-Ohio) pheasant-hunting fundraiser. . . The Kennedys, Kerry, Hillary, and Scarborough honor Robert F. Kennedy on his 80th birthday. . . Spokesmen for DeLay and Hillary are awarded “Flak Jacket” honors. [The Hill]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Rove’s attorney may have purchased an “I Love Karl Rove” shirt. [NYDN]

The AP reports that the Florida Republican Party, unhappy with U.S. Senate candidacy of Katherine “I’ve Already Counted the Votes, Thank You Very Much” Harris, is wooing former Republican Revolutionary Joe Scarborough as a replacement candidate to go up against incumbent Senator Bill Nelson. Still, Scarborough is just a TV personality, and a cable one at that; Nelson is a former astronaut. According to our own boyhood hierarchy of professions, only a fireman or a cowboy can beat him. Unless, of course, Scarborough can get Kathering Harris back to count the votes. . . — HOLLY MARTINS MORE »