Tuesday's state dinner at the White House is expected to draw a handful of Hollywood figures, including WME Entertainment's Ari Emanuel, the brother of President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Sources say he'll be among the 200 or so in the East Room for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first official state dinner of Obama's presidency --- and therefore a much sought-after invite. Emanuel attended the White House Correspondents Assn. Dinner in May.

Politico reported last week that director M. Night Shyamalan also will be among those at the event, along with actor Kal Penn, currently serving as associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement. Others on the guest list include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The full list is usually released the day of the event.

As NBC kicks off "green week," former Vice President Al Gore made a cameo on "Saturday Night Live" where he announced a new tactic in the fight against global warming: "Out crazy the crazy."

The last time Jerry Brown really  a national profile was in his 1992 campaign for president, when he waged a reform-minded bid notable for its limit of contributions to no more than $100 per person made via a then-novel 800-number.

That certainly isn't the case anymore, what with Brown collecting contributions of up to $25,900 from individuals and companies in his pending campaign for governor of California. Just the other night, he raised more than $1 million at a Hollywood fund-raiser, mindful of the prospect of facing a self-financed challenger like Meg Whitman, who has suggested spending $150 million to win.

The 1992 campaign "was a voluntary effort to challenge the system," Brown tells Variety. "Here the challenge is being able to have two sides even presented because of the overwhelming financial dominance of the Republican candidates. That would be a real danger to the democracy if they alone owned the airwaves. So you have to provide an alternative. It is imperative."

Brown was appearing at a Sunset Strip nightclub for a gathering of Generation for Change, a group of young progressive professionals, and he elaborated several times on his different approach to raising money between then and now.

"I tried that 18 years ago, and it had some plusses, but it had some limitations," he said. "Unless you want to work for the Republicans and say no one else can be heard except the one who has a hundred million, that doesn't seem reasonable.

"In a presidential campaign, because you have so many states, you can build up a following and the free media covers more and you can actually raise smaller donations across the country. In a gubernatorial campaign, there is only one day of elections, and it is a very different financial environment."

Brown did say that if other candidates agreed to the $100 limit, "I would certainly be only too willing to join with them." "If Meg would pay back the $19 million she has already put up, and agree to take only 100 dollars and only spend a hundred dollars of her own money, then we would have something to talk about."

But many in the crowd were in their 20s and 30s, and their first memories of Brown are of the 1992 race, when he challenged Bill Clinton right up to the Democratic Convention. And they have only vague nostalgic notions of his tenure as governor from 1975 to 1983.

In a short, unscripted speech, Brown had flashes of populism and optimism, interspersed with humorous references about his own unconventional biography ("I took Linda Ronstandt to Africa once").

He laid out many of the state's dire problems --- often in an irreverent way --- and offered very general outlines of what he'd do.

"One of the things I have been accused of is changing all the time," he told the group. "You will hear that a lot when they take out ads. 'This Brown is constantly changing his mind.' Well, if you are alive and if you are listening and you are growing, you will change, because the world is changing, and if you still were where you were before, you are dead."

Brown spoke of finding "common ground" and of a governor who will "level with the people" on the economy, health care, education and the environment. He talked of bringing "what we spend and what we earn" into alignment. He lamented the amount spent on prisons and even the country as a whole being overextended militarily in trying to police the world.

But he had a different perspective on the state's infamous budgetary problems.

"I think we have got a pile of problems," he said. "We have got a 20 billion dollar deficit. Last week, it was only a 15 billion dollar deficit. The good news is that state wealth is $1.6 trillion...So the deficit is only one percent. Any of you can solve a one percent problem. So that is not a problem."

Then he deadpanned, "Luckily, the next governor doesn't take over for another year, and I am praying and hoping that those people in Sacramento do the right thing and solve all these major problems before I get there."

The crowd laughed.

With polls showing a rising anti-incumbent fervor, Brown's opponents are hitting him as a career politician, and he even played up the fact that he's been around for so long and has run for so many different office. "Most people I have run against are dead," he said, to chuckles. "The stress is pretty intense. It is intense. I am a very stressful person, and these people running against me may discover that."

Instead, he spoke of his tenure as an advantage.

"These other people think they know what they are getting into," he said. "They don't know. It is really tough. But I think the economy is going to be coming back. We have got the ideas, and if we can just summon the enthusiasm and the response of the people of our state, I think we can get there."

Several weeks ago, Brown's spokesman in the attorney general's office resigned after he admitted secretly recording reporters' calls. With opponents criticizing Brown's internal investigation of the matter, it was the first flap of Brown's campaign, and he alluded to it after he finished speaking to reporters. He quipped to them, "By the way, you didn't get my permission to record that."

That, and other news, in today's Roundup and Recap.

A majority of President Obama's ambassadorial picks so far are political appointees versus career diplomats, Politico reports in a story that cites such choices as Charles Rivkin, a campaign bundler and former head of Wild Brain Media, to be his ambassador to France. Jeanne Cummings reports that of the 80 ambassador nominations or confirmations since he took office, 56% are political apppointees versus 44% career diplomats, although those figures are expected to change as more appointees are named. Other appointees from entertainment include Nicole Avant, now ambassador to the Bahamas. Still pending is the long-speculated nomination of cable entrepreneur Marc Nathanson as ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Victoria Espinel's nomination as the Obama administration's "copyright czar" cleared a hurdle today as the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the choice. Copyright Alliance executive director Patrick Ross said in a statement: “This is an encouraging step forward in a process that we are confident will lead to even better performance at the federal level of intellectual property rights enforcement.

David Hyde Pierce and Brian Hargrove are hosting a fund-raiser for Equality California at their Hancock Park home this evening, with Marc Cherry as co-chair. The purpose of the event, per an invite, is to "discuss plans to win marriage back and achieve true equality."

The best excerpt from last night's appearance of Lou Dobbs on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" wasn't even the one that was aired, says Brian Lowry. But it was posted online, and Lowry notes that the "reasonable" Lou is the one who showed up.
 

Washington is abuzz with a Hollywood-esque worry: Will I be on the list?

The list is for President Obama's first state dinner on Tuesday for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and with just a couple hundred able to fit into the East Room, it will leave many a bruised ego that can't be easily cured even by the possibility of being invited to the next one. Remember, this is the first state dinner. Adding to the anxiety is that the White House is expected to release a list of attendees, probably on Tuesday, which will announce to the whole world who made it and who didn't (although there's always the cover that you were invited but could not attend.)

Naturally, given the level of financial and public support that Obama enjoyed from the entertainment industry, there is concern among some of his suppporters in L.A. that they get one of these golden tickets, and even then that they get a good seat at a good table, certainly no worse than any other figure of a similar stature. (These types of sentiments are not exclusive to Hollywood events).

Invitations went out this week, and although the White House is holding the list close to the vest, names are leaking out about some of the industry figures who will be there. Politico's Amie Parnes reports that director M. Night Shyamalan will be attending, after having misplaced his invite. More names are expected to leak out in the next few days.

A quick follow to the post about Jerry Brown's fund-raiser at the home of Sandy Gallin:

More than $1 million was raised, many of the co-chairs did show, including Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen (you never really know until the event itself) and Brown was "very eloquent and very funny," in the words of one attendee.

Looking to the campaign ahead, Brown deadpanned that hopefully the state would be fine and stabilized by the time the election comes around next year.

Irreverent as that sounds, Brown invoked his father's legendary accomplishments in the state as well as his own tenure during the 1970s to a crowd that has longtime ties to his political career. Among them was Geffen, who introduced him. Also attending: Barry Diller, Eric Garcetti, Steve Bing, J.J. Abrams, Wolfgang Puck and Ken Ziffren.

Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" was not among the 15 films on the shortlist competing for the Oscar for documentary.

There were other high-profile and well-reviewed docs also overlooked, but Moore's film seems to have caught the most attention: It's the highest grossing non-fiction film so far this year.

President Obama has nominated former Time editor and CNN CEO Walter Isaacson to chair the Broadcasting Board of Governors, along with a slate of seven other board members that include Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton and President George W. Bush's former press secretary, Dana Perino.

The Broadcasting Board is responsible for the government's non-military, international broadcasting, including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

Although it is an independent agency, the president nominates its members, subject to Senate approval. By statute, the president and the minority party pick four members each to serve on the board, which is supposed to act as a buffer between the media outlets' journalistic independence and lawmakers' temptations for propaganda. (Earlier this week, the New Republic weighed in on the recent troubles in filling board slots --- and whether it makes any difference.)

Isaacson is currently the president of the Aspen Institute and serves as chairman of the board of Teach for America. Lynton and his wife, Jamie, have long ties to Obama, having hosted fund-raisers for his Senate campaign and for his presidential campaign at their Santa Monica home. And as one of the Republican appointees, Perino may be one of the few Obama nominations sent to the Senate with "Fox News contributor" listed among her credits.

Also nominated to the board are Susan McCue, president of the strategic advocacy firm Message Global and the founding president and CEO of the ONE campaign; Michael P. Meehan, the president of Blue Line Strategic Communications and senior VP at Virilion, a digital media company; Victor H. Ashe, former U.S. ambassador to Poland and former mayor of Knoxville, Tenn.; Dennis Mulhaupt, founder and managing director of Commonwealth Partners Inc. and former exec VP of KCET in Los Angeles; and S. Enders Wimbush, senior VP for International Programs and Policy at the Hudson Institute. Mulhaupt and McCue were previously nominated during the Bush presidency, but were stalled in the wrangling of the Senate confirmation process.

That, and other news, in today's Roundup and Recap.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped a hint about his political future: There won't be one. He told reporters today that he has no plans to seek public office. ''I have never labeled myself as a politician, so I am not going to run for anything else,'' he says. Schwarzenegger has previously said that he was not looking for another campaign, although his statement leaves the door open for a spot in the administration or even MPAA chief.

Oprah Winfrey scored her highest ratings in two years with the appearance of Sarah Palin.  It was the highest number for the show since the entire Osmond clan appeared in November, 2007. Given that everything Palin does makes news, Republican strategist John Feehery looks at the Palin paradoxes and how she helps and hurts the GOP. John McCain, meanwhile, is defending his campaign team, slammed by Palin in her memoir.

Vice President Joseph Biden appeared on Jon Stewart last night, highlighted by a bow, a joking reference to all the analysis over President Obama's bow to Japan's emperor.

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California Attorney General Jerry Brown --- still not officially declared as a gubernatorial candidate --- holds his first major Hollywood fund-raiser for his bid tonight at the home of producer Sandy Gallin.

As I reported earlier, the event's list of co-chairs includes Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, along with J.J. Abrams, Peter Morton, Rob and Michele Reiner, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, Michael King, John Emerson, Reed Hastings, Wallis Annenberg and Larry Ellison.

Tickets to the event are $5,000 per person, with co-chairs who write checks or raise $50,000 invited to a smaller and more intimate pre-reception. Although Brown not officially declared, he has formed an exploratory committee with allows him to raise $25,900 per person for the primary and the general election.

"We'll definitely hit our numbers," says Andy Spahn, the political consultant who is helping organize the event and reps Spielberg and Katzenberg. It's expected that the evening's take will surpass $1 million.

Brown will certainly need the warchest, what with the prospect of facing Republicans Meg Whitman or Steve Poizner, both of whom have the resources to self-finance. (Whitman, for example, has thrown out the figure of $150 million as a possible outlay for the race).

After Gavin Newsom dropped out of the race, there have been rumors about Dianne Feinstein or Steve Westly jumping in to challenge Brown, but neither have given an indication that they are about to enter. And with Brown locking up support in a plum donor community, the clock is ticking.

Brown appears tomorrow night at the Generation for Change event on Sunset Boulevard, designed to introduce the governor to a crowd of young Hollywood professionals who backed Barack Obama in the last election. The group's cofounders, Haroon "Boon" Saleem and Justyn Winner, said that they were looking to endorse Brown even before Newsom dropped out.

Broadcasters and music industry reps finally sat down at the same table today, but it didn't mean they were negotiating.

Rather, their meeting today at the Capitol seemed more a case of reiterating their positions on a contentiious piece of legislation that would require broadcast radio stations pay perfomers when they play their songs.

The meeting in a House conference room in the depths of the Capitol was requested by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairmen of their respective judiciary committees and chief supporters of the Performance Rights Act. Many lawmakers have called for both sides to come to the table on an issue they view as a squabble between two industries, but until now nothing has materialized. So far, there's no compromise --- and perhaps there never will be one.

The National Assn. Of Broadcasters has been fighting against it, arguing that radio is a promotional platform for artists. In fact, following the meeting, it released a statement announcing more lawmaker support for the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution declaring that no fee should be imposed.

Among those at the meeting (or at least taking part at some point) were House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas). Also present: Jennifer Bendall, executive director of the musicFIRST Coalition, which reps a coalition of artist and industry groups, including the Recording Industry Assn. Of America (whose president, Mitch Bainwol, also was present); and Steve Newberry, joint board chairman of NAB, and Charles Newberry, NAB radio board chairman. NAB's new president, former Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, did not attend because of lobbying restrictions on lawmakers who have recently left office.

More meetings are expected, but no specific date has been set.

Bendall's statement: "We appreciated the opportunity to sit down today with NAB for the first time to discuss creation of a radio performance right. Members of Congress and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer joined the meeting to encourage us to find common ground. We look forward to meeting again with NAB and radio industry stakeholders and reporting back to them on our progress. Artists, musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners ears to the radio dial should be compensated for their work.”

NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton issued this statement: "Out of deference to key members of Congress, NAB representatives met today with representatives of RIAA and the music industry to discuss pending performance tax legislation. NAB representatives, along with representatives of minority-owned radio stations, reiterated our strong concerns over the negative impact that the bill would have on the ability of free and local radio stations to continue serving our listeners."

Organizing for America announced a winner today of the health reform video challenge. OFA supporters received the news via an email from Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign manager David Plouffe. 

The winning 30-second video ad submission is "I Deserve Health Care" by Eric Hurt.

The video features children at a playground predicting future calamities that will bankrupt their parents or kill them because their parents won't be able to afford health care. The tykes then state that there are over eight million uninsured children in America.

A total of 20 finalists out of 1,000 submissions competed for the chance to get their video aired on a national television ad.

-- Josh Marks

Here is the winning video:

That, and other news, in today's Roundup and Recap.

Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" sold out quickly at some bookstores here in Washington, but those outlets had the advantage of demand as they jumped the gun on the official publication date. But with her appearance on Oprah Winfrey today, McCain loyalists disputing its facts and excerpts trickling out elsewhere, is there much left to scoop? 

What that leaves is the question of just what is Palin up to, and on that front she says that 2012 is "not on my radar screen" and she brushed aside suggestions that she wanted a talk show of her own. "Oprah, you're the queen of talk shows. there's nothing to ever worry about." I still believe that either scenario is a possibility --- but I wouldn't rule out Palin sitting down with Couric again, either.

Some 11,000 artists --- ranging from filmmakers to authors to musicians --- signed a letter that was delivered to the White House on Monday calling on President Obama to better enforce copyright regulations. The letter, organized by the Copyright Alliance, reads in part: "We are under assault. Our rights to control the distribution, use, and reproduction of our works in our vibrant digital age are dismissed by many who do not understand the value we bring to society. They tell us to work harder, create better, and give our works away."

Gary Ginsberg, top communications aide for Rupert Murdoch, is departing News Corp. at the end of the year. Ginsberg, a Democrat, helped arrange meetings for Murdoch with party officials and the Clintons.

Posting will be a little bit lighter today and tomorrow as I am on assignment. Joshua Marks will be posting as well.

Is the electric vehicle for real this time?

Nissan is betting it is. And so is "Who Killed the Electric Car?" director Chris Paine.

The Nissan LEAF Zero Emmission Tour kicked off at Pier 59 Studios West in Santa Monica on Friday night with a launch party which featured the 100% electric car on display. The camera was rolling for Paine's follow-up to his Sony Pictures Classics documentary on the destruction of the General Motors EV1 in the 1990s.

The title of the film will be "Revenge of the Electric Car" and camera operator Steve Payne took a moment from shooting to sit down and talk about the project.

"I think because we have a change in the administration, these guys seem a little bit greener. Probably not as green as they should be, but it's better than what it was," said Payne. "I'm happy to see the car companies doing electric stuff without having their arms twisted so far. They can see there is a market there."

In fact in a shocking reversal, General Motors participated in the making of the film. Not only did GM throw a launch party for the Chevrolet Volt -- its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle -- at Paine's Marrakesh House in the Hollywood Hills, but Paine ended up interviewing GM Chairman Edward Whitacre, Jr.

The actual first showing for the Nissan LEAF North American tour took place at Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon, which included members of the media and EV enthusiasts who participated in a panel discussion and test drove a prototype.

After Los Angeles, the LEAF will head to San Diego, San Francisco and then make its way across the country with stops in major cities along the way, including the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Both the Volt and the LEAF will start rolling out in late 2010 with the price tag rumored to be around $30,000 for the LEAF and near $40,000 for the Volt, minus a $7,500 Federal tax credit and any state tax credits.

The first two years of the LEAF's production will take place in Japan before moving in 2012 to a vehicle and lithium ion battery manufacturing facility based in Smyrna, Tennessee.

"Part of the whole challenge we think on EVs is having a dialogue with people because there is so much information you have to transfer," said Tim Gallagher, Nissan North America's West Coast rep. "The best way to do that is really from a grassroots standpoint." 

-- Josh Marks

More pictures and video from the event: