Sure, maybe this was just a fiendishly clever photo op, but you have to admit that it was pretty neat:

The day before he was sworn in as a congressman, Democrat Henry Cuellar of Laredo trekked to the White House with about 50 other freshman lawmakers for a reception with the president. After posing for a photo, Mr. Cuellar ambled into the kitchen, grabbed an apron and started pitching in. "I washed dishes when I was at Georgetown University. I went up there and said, 'Hey, I'm Henry Cuellar, I'm your new co-worker and I'm here to wash dishes,'" he said. He spent about 10 minutes in the highest kitchen in the land, chatting in Spanish, he said. One worker who'd been there since President Lyndon Johnson's days told him he'd never seen a congressman roll up his sleeves that way.