By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Friday, November 21, 2008

Linda Sanchez has always stood out a bit in Congress.

The SoCal Democrat is by far the House's finest comedian -- sharing wacky tales of dating life on the charity stand-up circuit -- and, along with Rep. Loretta Sanchez, part of the body's first sister act.

Now, she's poised to become only the eighth congresswoman in history to have a baby while in office -- and the first to do so while single.

Sanchez, 39, announced in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that she's expecting her first child May 21. The father is her beau of a year and a half, Jim Sullivan, 43, a government affairs consultant from Connecticut. The pregnancy was planned and very much welcomed.

The two are "unofficially engaged," she says, and looking to buy a house. They will plan a wedding later -- but at her age, she says, planning a baby couldn't wait.

Let's just say it: Have times changed, or what! A decade or so ago, this might have been a political career-killer. In 1992, Dan Quayle used the "Murphy Brown" single-mom story line to kick off a public debate about family values. Today, we predict that Sanchez's story will mostly draw shrugs -- and warm congratulations.

"I did wonder how it would be received," Sanchez acknowledged. Then came the Bristol Palin story, which drew surprisingly little backlash, even from conservative voters. "We've evolved as a society so much. The reality of single working moms is such a powerful reality."

"I'm not a high school kid, it wasn't an accident, I'm financially stable, in a committed relationship," she told us. "All the reasons for worrying about bringing a child into the world don't exist here."

Sanchez, who is divorced, always wanted kids; at 38, she pondered doing it on her own. A year later, she was dating "Sully," as she calls him. At her annual exam this year, her doctor said, "If you're planning on doing this, I wouldn't wait." Her boyfriend, also divorced and the father of three young boys, agreed.

"Probably the second month in, I bought a basal body thermometer," which predicts the optimal time for conception. "I could never figure it out." The long-distance relationship also posed a challenge. In September, she got the good news. "I can't tell you how fortunate I feel we were to be able to do this naturally," without fertility treatments, she said.

They waited to announce, she said, not because of her reelection but to get past the high-risk first trimester. So far the reaction has been positive. Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who had a son in May, and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), due next month, have offered advice.

Might she be a married congressmom by the time the baby arrives? Probably not. Both she and Sully come from big families, and "I want the big wedding," she said, "That's going to take some time to plan."

Sony Pictures plans to turn our colleague Wil Haygood's front-page Washington Post story about Eugene Allen, an African American butler at the White House for 34 years, into a major motion picture.

Allen, 89, worked through eight administrations, beginning in the Truman years when segregation still reigned in his native Virginia, until midway through the Reagan era. Haygood interviewed Allen and captured his reflections in the days leading up to Barack Obama's election, for an article that ran Nov. 7 -- "a story from the back pages of history," Haygood wrote, "the man in the kitchen."

"It's such a moving story that covers such a sweep of history," producer Laura Ziskin ("Pretty Woman," "Spider-Man") told Variety. The studio bought Allen's life-story rights as well as the rights to the newspaper story. Haygood has been signed as an associate producer and researcher.

· Michael Lohan -- yes, Lindsay's dad -- dining in a party of nine at Teatro Goldoni downtown Tuesday night. The ex-con turned minister, now doing mission work with an anti-child-slavery group, was in town to meet with a Saudi benefactor, he explained when we tracked him down. Blue suit, red-and-white scarf. Linguini with clam sauce and pinot grigio.

· Split: Local-boy-makes-good Benji Madden, 29, and Paris Hilton, 27, according to various glossy mags and confirmed to Us Weekly by her rep. The Waldorf-bred Good Charlotte guitarist and the freelance celebutante had dated a full nine months. Really thought this one was going to work out.

· Settling: Madonna, 50, and Guy Ritchie, 40, who were to be divorced today at High Court in London, according to court records cited by the BBC. U.K. papers report that she'll keep most of her $500 million fortune intact and that Rocco, 8, and David, 3, will divide their time between the United States and London while Lourdes, 12, her daughter by a previous relationship, will stay with Madge.