Here's what's on tap this weekend in showbiz and politics:

Saturday: MoveOn Civic Action, Rebuild the Dream and Van Jones are organizing an election year effort against the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision. Tenacious D, Tom Morello, Moby and Becky Stark are gathering for a Los Angeles concert, with a speech from Jones. The event at 400 South La Brea in Los Angeles also is a prelude to what is being called "99% Spring," in which activists will be trained in "nonviolent direct action," according to the orgs.

Sunday: The Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors hosts its annual American Spirit Awards, with honorees Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), as well as Bob Barker and Larry Auerbach.

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin entered the national consciousness via social media, but can a serious conversation about race really take place on platforms like Twitter? On the latest Wilshire & Washington on the Radio, we talk to Michael Skolnik, political adviser to Russell Simmons and co-president of Global Grind, about how social media can be a help and hindrance as justice is sought.

Join Maegan Carberry, Kristen Soltis and myself on the latest Wilshire & Washington on the Radio, which you can listen to here, or on the link below.

Apparently Keith Olbermann's deal with Current TV did not include a non-disparagement clause.

Or maybe it did, and this is just the beginning of a protracted legal battle over Olbermann's sudden exit from the fledgling cable channel, which is trying to establish a progressive identity after experimenting with a user-generated business model.

Current released a statement: "Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it." The channel, led by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, also reportedly believes that Olbermann breached his contract.

Olbermann took the Twitter to blast his former employers, and then issued a long statement and the threat of legal action. "It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt’s “values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,” I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee’s name was Clarence B. Cain." He then gave the link to the New York Times story about a 1990 court ruling against Hyatt Legal Services for firing the head of its Philadelphia office after learning he had AIDS. Just how long Olbermann had such ammunition ready to use against Hyatt is unclear, but it shows that the circumstances and theatrics of Olbermann's exit will probably linger for longer than anything that he said on his show at Current.

When Olbermann partnered with Current shortly after his exit from MSNBC, it was treated as a win-win: Olbermann would be freed from the constraints of corporate media, Current would fashion identity around "Countdown" and develop a primetime of news personalities. But as Brian Lowry points out, Olbermann, like his ideological opposite Glenn Beck, lost the megaphone that comes from a media conglomerate with huge resources.

A part of what also drove their success on their cable networks also was the fact that they were their networks' own versions of Howard Beale, with an aura around them that they were actually taking great risks in saying what they said, if not getting themselves in trouble making their bosses sweat. That wasn't true in their new destinations --- what is the big deal if Beck says something outrageous on his radio and Internet platform or Olbermann took to another special comment to rail against a sacred cow? Instead, Olbermann's exit from Current looks to be all about personality, and very little about what Olbermann ever said about policy.

Politico's Roger Simon thinks that Mitt Romney struggled even with Jay Leno's softballs:

Simon writes, "To show his political creds, Leno presses Romney lightly on wanting to do away with Barack Obama’s health care plan, especially the provision that would force insurance companies to insure people even if they have pre-existing medical conditions.

"Even though Romney has talked about this endlessly on the campaign trail, he now seems to dither a bit — perhaps it is the adrenaline crashing through his system or the flop sweat gathering beneath his hair — and he says he would continue to insure people with pre-existing conditions as long as 'they had been continuously insured.'"

Simon also points out that Romney tried to joke about Leno's chief rival, David Letterman, a sensitive topic for "The Tonight Show" host if there ever was one.

Letterman's response came inhis monologue: “Mitt Romney was a guest on the ‘Tonight Show.’ You had an empty suit trying to please everyone. And then Romney came out.”

Simon does get wrong two facts: This was not Romney's first late-night appearance as a 2012 candidate. He read the Top Ten list on Letterman. And Bill Clinton played the sax on Arsenio Hall's show in 1992, not on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" in 1988.

The price that candidates pay for late-night exposure, appearances intended to make them appear hipper and most likeable, is the unpredictability that comes with it. As late-night has become a routine part of the campaign, even the presidency with President Obama's appearances on Leno, Letterman and Jon Stewart, the hosts have become ever more adept at asking candidates policy questions, so simple in nature that candidates are prone to trip up on them.

A couple weeks ago, I asked Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, what it was like to go on "Real Time with Bill Maher," which he had done just days earlier. Scarier than you would think, he said, with one of the rules being that under no circumstances should you try to outwit the host, as tempting as it may be. Obama stumbled a few years back on Leno when he made a joke about the Special Olympics. And Romney, pressed by Leno on his VP list, said, “I can do you a favor with this. I’ll choose David Letterman, help us both out.”

Sources say that President Obama's reelection campaign is planning a fundraiser in Los Angeles on May 10 that will be hosted by DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Obama also is expected to attend a fundraiser aimed at gay and lesbian donors in Los Angeles some time this spring.

The Katzenberg event has been in the works for some time. The Hollywood Reporter's Tina Daunt reported in February that the event was being planned at Katzenberg's home in Trousdale Estates.

Katzenberg's political adviser, Andy Spahn, said that the date is not confirmed and that the location is still to be determined.

Katzenberg is an Obama bundler and the top donor to a pro-Obama SuperPAC, Priorities USA Action. Obama was last in Los Angeles in February for a fundraiser at the home of Colleen and Bradley Bell, but the Katzenberg event is expected to draw a bigger concentration of industry figures.

The Los Angeles crowd that showed up for Mitt Romney's fundraiser at the Century Plaza Hotel on Tuesday was about twice as big as his last fete, with about 600 donors helping the campaign reap an estimated $1.5 million.

That's according to Harry Sloan, chairman and CEO of Golden Eagle Acquisition Corp. and one of the GOP front runner's show biz fundraisers. Also at the event were Terry Semel, former chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros., and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

"We're starting to pick up a lot more Hollywood support, and we will continue to pick up more too," said Sloan, who said that a showbiz-centric event is in the works for after Romney secures the nomination.

The $2,500-per-person event was dominated by donors from finance, legal and other professions, as well as political figures from the state. Former California governor Pete Wilson introduced Romney, and the candidate gave a shout out to composer and record producer David Foster, who also was there. Foster worked with Romney on the ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Sloan said that the talk among donors was "let's wrap this up," as the longer-than-expected primary has shifted attention and resources from the general election. Polls show Romney's position improving against Rick Santorum, while Newt Gingrich is scaling back his campaign and Ron Paul has struggled in the amassing of delegates.

Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC: Romney on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Tuesday.

Here's video of last night's appearance by Mitt Romney on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," where he's queried about Rick Santorum's contradictions, the vision he has for the tax code and, strangely enough, porn.

Mitt Romney appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Tuesday, and was grilled about what alternative he would have in place for Obamacare and his impressions of Rick Santorum.

"Press secretary," Romney said, when asked to give a short description of Santorum, among a list of a number of political figures.

Leno also pressed Romney on who is on his list of vice presidential prospects, but the GOP front runner insisted that there wasn't one yet.

"I can do you a favor with this," Romney said. "I'll choose David Letterman. We can help us both in that."

"Well, there you go. There you go," Leno responded.

Romney is in Los Angeles for a round of fundraising, and is appearing this evening at a $2,500-per-person event at the Century Plaza Hotel.

A year ago, the threat of a government shutdown was raising the prospect of a major slash in government arts funding.

This year, as arts advocates lobby for another round of funding, they face a different hurdle: the upcoming election.

The National Endowment for the Arts, which distributes federal funding to state and nonprofit arts orgs and other institutions, isn't the punching bag that it once was at the height of the culture wars in the 1990s, but it has been a target on the campaign trail, as some of the GOP candidates cite it as an example of where to trim from the federal budget.

Front-runner Mitt Romney has called for deep cuts to the budget of the NEA, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, linking continued funding of the arts agencies to the debt and the need for the government to borrow from China. Ron Paul has long called for the outright elimination of funding for the NEA. Rick Santorum has come under attack from some conservative advocacy groups for his support of the NEA when he was in the House and Senate.

Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the premiere lobbying org for arts groups, said that while "some of the rhetoric is negative," the records of Santorum and Romney both reflect some support for arts funding. He's encouraged by President Obama's request to increase funding for the NEA to $155 million, restoring it to the level before last year's budget standoffs, when it was slashed to $146 million.

"It is a tough environment," Lynch said. "It is very brave and very leaderly of the administration to ask for this increase because it is a time when all you are hearing about is cutbacks and cuts from government."

"The sense I get from the White House, the sense I get from the Hill, is that there is a fairly positive energy for this fairly modest investment because of the economics of it, because it is a job creator and economic stimulator," he added.

Last week, Lynch and Stanley Tucci, on the cusp of the opening of "The Hunger Games," appeared before a House subcommittee on Capitol Hill to press for the budget increase. On April 16 and 17, a number of industry figures will trek to Washington to participate in a series of lobbying events, including the Americans for the Arts' annual Nancy Hanks Lecture at the Kennedy Center, to be given this year by Alec Baldwin and featuring a performance by Ben Folds.

Advocates in entertainment say that arts funding, including federal grants, strengthens the creative sector, which benefits the industry.

"In a campaign year, it's an easy target. It's easy to say, 'It's an entitlement program,'" said Charles Segars, CEO of the Ovation cable channel, who is honorary co-chair of the lobbying event, Arts Advocacy Day. In fact, he said, the "really insignificant" among of money that is spent on the arts is invested "like venture capital," creating jobs at the state and local level.

"For every dollar that the NEA invests, four come back," he said.

Actor Hill Harper, who will lobby next month, said that "the issue around arts funding has become politicized, which is just not right and not correct. Whenever anything becomes politicized, reasoning goes out the window, because they are using it for a different purpose other than what the efficacy and value is."

Opponents, he added, "make it seem as if the amount of money spent on the NEA is like military spending, when it is really a minute, minute fraction of that."

But in contrast to the '90s, when federal funding of individual artists riled social conservatives, candidates are looking to turn the NEA into a more philosophical argument about the role and size of government.

Romney wrote in a USA Today op-ed in November: "There are many things government does that we may like but that we do not need. The test should be this: 'Is this program so critical that it is worth borrowing money to pay for it?'"

Americans for the Arts has been taking to the campaign trail, having done three events in Iowa ahead of the caucuses there, and forums are planned at the Democratic and Republican conventions in late summer. A chief argument has been that public arts funding is the endorsement that many orgs need to draw private investment. On a visit this month to Kansas, where all state arts funding was slashed last year, NEA chairman Rocco Landesman argued that federal funding is necessary because many projects wouldn't stand a chance of being made if weighed on the basis of commercial viability like a major feature film. "The reason we have public funding of the arts, and the reason we have the NEA at all, is so the marketplace is not the sole determinant of what is seen and what is excellent," he said, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.

Lynch is counting on swaying lawmakers with extensive economic data showing that the nonprofit arts and culture sector generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year, and 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs.

Despite cuts at the federal level and in state budgets, "This is a positive story of an industry that has remained extremely resilient in today's economy," he said. "Nonprofit arts organizations have held on, to everyone's surprise."

Radio talk alert:  Variety's Jeff Sneider reports that Jane Fonda, a favorite target of the right, will play Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels' "The Butler," which is the story of a White House butler who worked from 1952 to 1986.

Harvey Weinstein has capitalized on the "R" rating that the MPAA gave to the Weinstein Co.'s "Bully" by helping to start a wholesale campaign from public interest groups, politicians and even the star legal team of Ted Olson and David Boies to speak out against the designation. The MPAA even hosted a screening and panel on the movie, at which Weinstein again spoke out on the rating. Today he announced that the movie will go out unrated.

"The Chris Matthews Show" today featured this newly created title sequence for "Mad Men," in honor of the show's return tonight, but featuring President Obama in the role. He's the falling man, and it's past the many stumbling blocks he has to reelection. But in the segment Obama ends up sitting ala Don Draper with the title, "Chief Exec" appearing on screen. Producer Will Rabbe has details on the making of the segment here.

Fat chance it will happen anytime soon. But C-SPAN  conducted a poll to show public support for televising the Supreme Court hearings next week on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and to little surprise it found overwhelming favorability of the idea of televising the proceedings.

The Penn Schoen Berland poll of 1,000 adults found that 74% strongly or somewhat agree that the high court should allow TV coverage of oral arguments, a 10% increase from December. Some 86% say the Supreme Court should allow cameras for the health care arguments. The support crosses party lines: More than 80% of Democrats, Republicans and independents support such coverage.

C-SPAN will be carrying audio recordings of oral arguments, after they happen. The network says it expects the recordings to be released at about 1 p.m. ET each day next week.

The court has rejected efforts to televise proceedings, including the oral arguments for the landmark Bush vs. Gore case that ended up determining the outcome of the 2000 presidential election.

The unexpected reach of the "Kony 2012" video may have proved the power of social media to drive a message, but a filmmaker is embarking on a new effort that will take audience engagement to the next level. On the latest Wilshire & Washington on the Radio, Kristen Soltis and I talk to "The Youngest Candidate" director Jason Pollock, who is teaming with Adam McKay to create a feature length social media documentary spotlighting the crisis of dropout rates in high schools.

You can listen to our latest show here, or on the link below.

Is this really the end?

The protracted GOP primary has forced many Republican donors -- including those in Hollywood -- to wait it out until there is a nominee. But Mitt Romney's decisive win in Illinois on Tuesday, coupled with the high-profile endorsement of Jeb Bush on Wednesday, has inspired hopes among Romney's fund-raisers that, at last, donors will get off the fence.

An indicator will come next Tuesday, when Romney is scheduled to attend a $2,500-a-person fundraiser at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. The event is heavy in co-hosts from the world of finance and private equity, but not so much in entertainment. Among the few from the showbiz realm is Harry Sloan, chairman and CEO of Golden Eagle Acquisition Corp., but he says they are waiting until Romney secures the nomination to have an industry-centric event like those that John McCain had in the last presidential cycle.

"We will have a little more support at next week's fundraiser than we have in the past," Sloan said Wednesday, adding that "as soon as the nomination is clear and everyone is coalescing around Romney, we want to have an event to introduce him to Hollywood and the entertainment community."

Donors to Romney's campaign include Terry Semel and Bruce Ramer, each long active in GOP fundraising, as well as entertainers like singer Donny Osmond. A pro-Romney SuperPAC, Restore Our Future, has drawn contributions from media mogul Jerry Perenchio, former chief of Univision, who gave $500,000 in February, adding to the $2.1 million he has given to other SuperPACs this cycle. Other politically active industry figures have donated to other candidates. Producer Joel Surnow gave to Newt Gingrich's campaign last year. And even as Bush and other GOP leaders call for Republicans to coalesce around Romney and end the nominating contest, Los Angeles supporters of Rick Santorum, including Pat Boone, are organizing a fund-raising event for him at the Beverly Hills home of Fred Wehba on March 28.

Overall, however, even as Republican showbiz figures like Jon Voight and Chuck Norris express enthusiasm for defeating President Obama, it has not translated into a cascade of Hollywood contributions to any campaign.

Romney is the top Republican recipient of showbiz money this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, raising $271,195 as of the end of January. By contrast, McCain and Rudy Giuliani had each collected about $500,000 from showbiz sources by that time in 2008.

The lag is part a function of Romney's relative lack of showbiz connections; part a desire to wait until the herky-jerky nomination battle shakes out for certain.

Sloan said that donors "want to make sure there is a chance" that Romney, or any other nominee, has a good shot at beating Obama. Despite an improved outlook for the president's reelection, and the negative campaigning driving up GOP candidates' unfavorability ratings, Sloan noted polling that has showed a tight race between Obama and Romney.

"I think there is some optimism on our side, a little bit because it looks like Romney is wrapping it up, but more so because the country is quite open to a change, especially among independents," Sloan said. "The fact that Romney is running neck and neck with Obama is more important to our community than how long this race goes on."

The lukewarm response among some industry conservatives toward Romney has much to do with the view that he is a creature of the Republican establishment and not the dramatic course correction they say the country needs.

Writer-director Lionel Chetwynd, who has long been active in presidential campaigns, said he will support Romney if he is the nominee, but he is not sure the extent to which he will work for his campaign, "knocking on doors," as he did for Ronald Reagan and other candidates.

"He is a much better choice for America than Barack Obama," Chetwynd said. "He is from the Republican establishment. His roots are in the Nelson Rockefeller wing of the Republican party. I am looking for the day when we can break out from the Republican party and have our own candidate, in the way that the Republicans burst out from the Whigs" in 1856.

Others speculate that Romney may maintain an arm's-length connection to the entertainment industry, which has long been a target for some conservatives focusing on showbiz's left-leaning excess. Romney has yet to speak to Friends of Abe, the monthly fellowship of industry conservatives, while almost all of the other candidates and major GOP leaders have.

Writer-producer Rob Long, who is backing Romney, dismisses the attention to Romney's enthusiasm gap, noting, "Since when are Republicans supposed to be enthusiastic? The last candidate we were enthusiastic about was Ronald Reagan."

The important thing, Long said, is that "Republicans turn out. They actually vote. … They will learn to fall in love with Mitt Romney."

Photo: Getty Images.

Ann Romney tells CNN's Piers Morgan that she laughed when she heard Robert De Niro's joke about whether the country was ready "for a white first lady."

"I took it for what it was: a joke," she said. "We take everything so seriously."

"I'll tell you, in politics the fastest way to get in trouble is make a joke. So I think Robert De Niro just learned that."

She talked to Morgan about today's "distraction": a Romney adviser's statement that the campaign would be like an "Etch-a-Sketch" once the general election campaign rolls around. Shake it and start over.

Even though President Obama is far out-raising all of his Republican rivals, he's not besting himself when it comes to Hollywood support.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Obama has raised $1.3 million from show biz sources as of the end of January. That compares to $2.7 million at that point in 2008.

Explanations? Obama fundraisers cite the lack of a competitive primary, with the expectation that everything will pick up once a GOP nominee is clear. Obama trekked to L.A. four times in 2011, has already been here once this year and is expected two or more times this cycle. But there's undoubtedly donor fatigue and the enthusiasm gap that comes with running on high hopes and then on an actual record.

Pat Boone and his wife Shirley are co-hosting a fundraiser for GOP candidate Rick Santorum on March 28 at the Beverly Hills home of Fred Wehba, co-founder of the real estate investment giant BentleyForbes, according to invites that went out this week.

Boone, long active in Republican politics, endorsed Santorum, even though the Pennsylvania senators brand of social conservatism hasn't gained much traction in the entertainment community. It's expected the event will draw on a larger pool of Los Angeles evangelicals, and conservatives still cool to Mitt Romney. In the last cycle, Wehba held a fundraiser for Mike Huckabee as he was engaged in a primary battle against John McCain.

Tickets for the event start at $1,000 per person.

Romney, meanwhile, will be in Los Angeles the night before, for a $2,500 per person fundraiser at the Century Plaza Hotel.

D.C. reporter Jason Mattera, who has appeared on "Hannity" with clips of ambush interviews of various liberal celebrities, landed what he thought was an interview with Bono, and grilled him on U2's tax filings, but Media Matters points out that Mattera may have instead been interviewing a Bono impersonator.

Update: Mattera, who writes for Human Events and posted the video to Breitbart.com (which has since taken it down, now admits that it was not Bono he interviewed. He said on Twitter, "I promise to ambush every impersonator until I get to the real Bono ;)" He had been pursuing a story about the hypocrisy of U2's tax practices while Bono promotes debt relief for African nations.

Mattera tells the Washington Post: “I got punked. I thought I got Bono. I didn’t. I got his impersonator apparently. Hats off to him. He got me — and how! After scores of interviews with big-time politicians and celebrities, I finally got had. It was bound to happen sooner or later. On the bright side, if I’m gonna get had as good as I did, it might as well be in pursuit of one of the greatest rockers ever."

The impersonator apparently didn't know how to respond to Mattera's questions, and said he was not responsible for U2's actions. All true, as it turns out.

The Post's Eriq Wemple interviewed Pavel “Bonodouble” Sfera, who went to the event where Bono supposedly was as a spoof. Sfera says that he did the interview but did not try to fake an Irish accent or pretend to know anything about U2's finances. But he didn't try correct Mattera either. 'I let him go," Sfera said. “I didn’t think he was being legitimate and fair."

A new team is in place to lead Andrew Breitbart's network of websites following his death earlier this month.

Stephen Bannon, radio talk host and director and producer of the Sarah Palin doc "Undefeated," will serve as executive chairman of Breitbart News Network, while Laurence Solov steps in as CEO and president.

The Breitbart News Network is the parent company of Breitbart.com, which includes BigHollywood.com and other "Big" sites like BigGovernment.com.

Breitbart had been working on a revamp of his Breitbart.com site at the time of his death, and it was officially relaunched on March 5.

Solov is a former partner at Katchen Muchin Rosenman, and served as outside counsel of Breitbart.com until 2007, when he became business partners in the web venture. "Andrew possessed a very specific vision of what he wanted our company to become," Solov said in a statement. "I share that vision, which the company will pursue relentlessly."

Bannon has been on the board of Breitbart News since it was started. He's a former M&A investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and was recently chairman and CEO of IMI Exchange.

Since August, Joel Pollak has served as editor in chief and Alex Marlow as managing editor of the news network. Ben Shapiro was named editor at large.

Pollak said that they will continue one of Breitbart's porjects, "The Vetting," focusing on President Obama, his rivals and the mainstream media in the 2012 presidential race.

President Obama's re-election campaign collected contributions from stars like George Clooney, Bette Midler, Mariah Carey and Will Ferrell in February, along with other notable figures such as Bill Gates, Martha Stewart and Deepak Chopra.

Their names were among those in the latest disclosure reports filed today with the Federal Election Commission.

Each of the donors contributed to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint committee in which contributions are split between Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee. That has allowed donors to make more sizable contributions of up to $35,800, given campaign contribution limits.

Others donating to the Victory Fund included Russell Simmons, Sony's Howard Stringer, actress Mariska Hargitay, former "24" star Dennis Haysbert, Magic Johnson, Tyler Perry, HBO co-president Richard Plepler, Byron Allen, Jim Belushi, writer-producer Kevin Bright, attorney Joseph Calabrese and Children's Television Workshop founder Joan Ganz Cooney.

The largest individual donor seeking Obama's reelection didn't give directly to the campaign, but to a SuperPAC. That was Bill Maher, who gave a much-publicized $1 million to Priorities USA Action, accounting for half of the money that the SuperPAC raised in February. Organizers are hoping that the pace of fundraising picks up in the coming months, with White House and campaign officials appearing at events in a bid to draw high-dollar donors.

Although Mitt Romney, leading in the race for the GOP nomination, trails Obama when it comes to picking up entertainment industry support, a SuperPAC that has been supporting his candidacy, Restore Our Future, collected $500,000 in February from former Univision chief Jerry Perenchio. The SuperPAC raised about $6.4 million during the period.

Obama's raised $41.3 million during the month, including $21.3 million for the campaign and $20 million for the DNC. Romney raised $11.5 million during the same period.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Democrats are still way ahead of the GOP candidates in drawing show biz support for all candidates and committees. Through the end of January, Democrats have collected $12.5 million from entertainment to Republicans' $5.8 million, a spread of 68% to 32%. That's actually narrower than the 78% to 22% in 2008.

The top recipient of show biz money, to little surprise, was Obama, according to the CRP, raising $1.3 million so far this cycle. The next highest recipient was Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who has raised $337,000 for his campaign in which he is facing a tough primary race against Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)

The top Republican recipient of industry money was Romney, with $271,195.

Updated

Robert De Niro's joke at a fundraiser last night has escalated into a minor flap.

He was being irreverent, but today Newt Gingrich seized on the remark --- and elite movie stardom in general --- and demanded an apology from President Obama.

“I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney: I think that Robert DeNiro’s wrong,” Gingrich said, according to CNN. “I think the country is ready for a new first lady and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”

A campaign spokeswoman for First Lady Michelle Obama, who headlined the event and praised De Niro and his wife for their support, called De Niro's joke "inappropriate."

"Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" De Niro asked to cheers from the crowd. "Too soon, right?"

"What De Niro said last night was inexcusable and the president should apologize for him. It was at an Obama fundraiser, it is exactly wrong, it divides the country," Gingrich added.

He also went in to some show biz bashing, targeting the elite of show biz. "De Niro is rich enough he probably doesn't notice the price of gasoline. He's successful enough he probably doesn't notice the unemployment rate. As the Hollywood actor, he might well be shortsighted enough he doesn't understand what it might do to our children and our grandchildren."

Update: Through a spokesman, De Niro issued this statement: "My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone --- especially the First Lady."

Robert De Niro and wife Grace Hightower hosted First Lady Michelle Obama for a campaign fundraiser tonight at their Manhattan eatery, Locanda Verde.

In one of the introductions for Obama, De Niro said, "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white First Lady?" Per a pool report, the crowd of 85 roared with laughter. Someone yelled "No!" And De Niro added, "Too soon, right?"

Hightower said that President Obama had been up against "dissenting voices, and I'd like to say, vampire energies."

Among those who co-hosted the event with the De Niros were Star Jones and Whoopi Goldberg. Gayle King, Angela Bassett and Ben Stiller were among those in attendance, and Beyonce (whose mother Tna Knowles also was a co-host) and Harvey Weinstein were spotted.

The first lady called the De Niros "a dynamic duo in their own right."

"It is important to have people like them in your life when you're doing tough stuff," she said. "So we appreciate it dearly."

She gave a speech citing her husband's accomplishments, and invoking one of the campaign's themes of protecting the middle class.

De Niro endorsed Obama in the 2008 primary, and appeared with him at a campaign rally in New Jersey. He also attended the inauguration.

Tickets started at $5,000 per person and went to the Obama Victory Fund.

Here's a clip from another portion of the first lady's visit to Manhattan --- an appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman."

Eva Longoria is starting to dive into the partisan fray in her role as co-chair of President Obama's reelection campaign, in which she will be a surrogate focusing on Latino and women's issues. She plans to campaign in the swing states, where support among Latinos could make all the difference.

On Monday, she appeared on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," in which she said it was a "huge generalization for Mitt Romney to claim of support among Latinos given his decisive win in Puerto Rico.

She added that Romney is on the "wrong side of every issue pertaining to Latinos," noting his stances on issues like health care, the economy and education.

Yet she said that it was a "problem" that Obama had failed to make headway in immigration reform, and said, "I know there's disappointment in the Latino community."

"He's done what he can do," she said.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Brian Lowry sees the flap over Louis C.K. and the Radio and Television Correspondents Assn. as indicative of the times. The comic pulled out after Fox News host Greta Van Susteren proposed a boycott --- calling the FX star a "pig" --- based on some of his tart tweets regarding Sarah Palin.

Lowry writes, "The real soul-searching needs to be conducted by those who cling to continuing gatherings such as the D.C. dinners, hiding behind charitable endeavors to justify their existence, when access and tradition appear far more germane to their emotional investment in the events. There are ways to raise money, after all, which don't require MSNBC and Fox News grudgingly breaking bread in the same banquet hall.

"It's easy to see why some within the media still embrace the 'We're all in this together' mentality fostered by laying down arms for a single evening. In doing so, though, they've not only created a source of discomfort within their ranks but set up a near-impossible scenario for entertainers venturing into these settings."

Brian Lamb, who has been CEO of C-SPAN since its inception in 1978, is stepping down from the nonprofit cabler, and will be succeeded by co-presidents Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain.

Lamb is giving up day-to-day oversight of the channels but will continue to host "Q and A" and will serve as executive chairman of the C-SPAN board.

In a statement, Lamb said that they have been preparing for the transition "for several years." It will take effect on April 1. "While each has their areas of expertise, Rob and Susan complement each other professionally. I'm pleased that our Board has given their partnership its unanimous endorsement."

President Obama on Friday raised money at a series of events in Atlanta hosted by Tyler Perry --- Oprah Winfrey was the guest at a dinner for high-dollar donors --- but the performance of Cee Lo created barely a blip in much of the media. Even though he performed at least part of his single "F--- You," albeit a cleaned up version, according to a pool report, much of the attention on Fox News' "Hannity" was in a portion when he gave the finger to a crowd of donors. Obama had yet to take the stage.

During the height of the congressional debate over health care reform in 2009, David Goldhill, the CEO of Game Show Network, authored an Atlantic article, "How American Health Care Killed My Father," which shared his personal experience to show why the system had to be radically altered to change poor service and ineffective quality.

Tonight he appears on a CNN special, "Global Lessons: The GPS Road Map for Saving Health Care," part of a quarterly series on American renewal hosted by Fareed Zakaria.

In his interview with Zakaria here, Goldhill suggests that the system will start to change once consumers have a better handle on prices, not exactly an endorsement of the Affordable Care Act, which leaves the system of insurance coverage in place. The entire special is shown tonight at 8 p.m. ET and PT.

George Clooney was arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington today, part of an orchestrated calling for the government in Khartoum "to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children."

Also arrested was Clooney's father, former broadcaster Nick Clooney, several congressmen and NAACP president Ben Jealous. Also taking part in the protest was comedian Dick Gregory, who pledged to start a hunger strike of solid foods until the government can stop blocking a key supply route through which humanitarian groups have been sending aid to the region.

"We are here really to ask two very simple questions," Clooney said, per CNN. "The first question is something immediate, and immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world."

Update: "It was really rough, you can imagine. Have you ever been in a cell with these guys?" Clooney said in a press conference after his release. He pointed to the politicians, and his father, who also were arrested. Video of the press conference is below.

President Obama's reelection campaign tonight debuted Davis Guggenheim's 17-minute documentary "The Road We've Traveled," which is a kind of back to the future way of messaging in the social media age. The campaign held more than 300 events across the country to show the film, and the project itself is certainly not a novelty. As NPR's Don Gonyea writes, the biographical film dates to 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower deployed it to reintroduce himself to the public.

The difference with the "The Road We've Traveled" is that the Obama campaign has built up hype for it in the same way that a studio would promote the opening weekend of a major release. That's probably why there's been some criticism that the movie doesn't include enough criticism of the administration, when in fact the project is bought and paid for by the campaign and should be viewed as part of reelection strategy. One surprise: Rahm Emanuel talking about healthcare reform.

Update: According to the campaign, Eva Longoria and Kal Penn attended events in Los Angeles. The are among the national co-chairs of Obama for America.

George Clooney faced a bank of cameras on the WhIte House driveway on Thursday, like any other public figure speaking to the media after a meeting with the president.

He's done this before in his campaign to turn attention to Sudan, and he reported that there's a "commitment on a very high level" to address the humanitarian crisis in the region.

"There's been a sustained commitment, but there seems to a new version of that with the escalation of danger for the people in the Nubian mountains, there's a real concern of opening some form of humanitarian corridor," he said, adding that Obama said that would discuss the situation with Chinese president Hu Jintao, concerned about the loss of oil revenues.

He acknowledged the challenge of keeping Sudan in the forefront with so many other crises evolving, including Syria and Afghanistan.

"A lot of things take the world's attention," Clooney said, "it doesn't mean this has to fall completely off the chart. Our job is to find the period of time when it is most crucial to talk about it, when there is something that we may be able to do to help bring attention at a crucial moment and try to keep that in the public eye."

On Friday, he will continue to call attention with plans to get arrested at Sudan's embassy in Washington, according to the Washington Post.

The Romney campaign must have thought it looked good on paper: comedian Jeff Foxworthy personifies blue-collar voters, is in tune with Southerners, and as a standup comic, could surely smooth over some of the more awkward edges of Romney’s outreach to voters in the Deep South.

When the results came in last week, though, Romney had captured highly educated, upper-income voters, but according to exit polls lost the rest in Mississippi and Alabama. At least they got some laughs.

Foxworthy is one of the few showbiz figures to hit the campaign trail for a presidential candidate this year, but he also is a warning for Republicans of the limited reach of star power.

Save for some sophisticated polling, it may never be known whether his appearance helped stave off dire results for Romney or proved a hindrance. But for all of the attention Foxworthy got when he campaigned for Romney in both states the day before the primary, the only gains made may have been in new variations on the comic’s signature “you might be a redneck” jokes.

No entertainment figure has emerged this year with the gravitas of an Oprah Winfrey, who campaigned for Barack Obama in 2008, or Chuck Norris, whose kitschy ad spots with Mike Huckabee helped catapult him into an Iowa win that year — proving that impact isn’t necessarily tied to being on the A-list.

While there’s little evidence voters made their choices based on these endorsements (or at least would fess up to doing so), what both personalities brought to the campaigns was a new level of attention.

So far this season the results are inconclusive about the power of stars on the stump.

Romney also has Kid Rock (who performed for him in Michigan) in his camp; and after the candidate reportedly gave assurances that he wouldn’t impose any new restrictions on gun ownership, he won the nod of “Motor City Madman,” rocker Ted Nugent. Romney squeaked out a victory in that state.

This time around, Norris made robocalls for Newt Gingrich in the southern states — so his allure doesn’t pack the same punch.

Campaigns routinely deploy stars — particularly musicians — to appeal to younger voters, but even among that age group, there are limits to success. Mike Cobb, associate professor at North Carolina State U, co-authored a 2010 study of 800 college students, and found that celebrity endorsements actually could hurt candidates.

Updated

George Clooney, "Downton Abbey" stars Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern and "Homeland" star Damian Lewis are among the names on the guest list for tonight's White House state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Clooney testified on Capital Hill today before the Senate Foreign Relations committee on the need for international action to resolve the crisis in Sudan, where he and other activists have tried to call attention to the conflict in the region. He reportedly has a meeting scheduled on Thursday at the White House, although it is unclear who he would be meeting with. He has met with President Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden in previous visits.

Others on the list include Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, James Lassiter, Charlie Rose, Hilary Rosen, John Legend, Andrew Sullivan, Jeff Shell, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, Jonathan Capehart, Claire Shipman, Anna Wintour, Gwen Ifill and Katty Kay.

Among those from Los Angeles invited to the dinner are David Bohnett, Chad Griffin and Barry Karas. Griffin, a political consultant who is board chairman of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, was recently named president of the Human Rights Campaign.

Update: Arriving at the state dinner, Weinstein told a pool reporter that he wanted to tell Obama, "I'm so thrilled he's running for reelection, he's done a fantastic job, and he's the most underestimated president I've seen. He's too humble, and his accomplishments far outweigh his esteem, but people will learn that in time." Weinstein is one of Obama's campaign bundlers.

Lewis, who said he was "thrilled" to learn that "Homeland" was one of Obama's favorites, said that he planned to ask the president when he had time to watch TV.

White House Photo: The Obamas, the Camerons and George Clooney at the State Dinner.

Bill Maher's $1 million donation made up half of the $2 million collected by the pro-Obama SuperPAC Priorities USA Action in February, according to the New York Times.

But even with all of the publicity generated by Maher's donation, which was a call to get other coastal liberals to step and write checks, there is increasing concern that some of the major Democratic donors will sit on the sidelines.

As I wrote several weeks ago, Hollywood figures have so far been reluctant to give, and a factor is the criticism from the left of the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision.

My story from March 3 is below:

Joseph P. Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert Kennedy who is running for Barney Frank's Massachusetts congressional seat, will raise money in Los Angeles on March 21 at a fundraiser at the home of Santa Monica councilman Bobby Shriver and his wife Malissa Feruzzi.

According to an invite, tickets start at $500 per person. Co-chairs also include Maria Shriver, Vicki Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy, Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey, and John Emerson. Also on the host committee are Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely, Kelly Meyer, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, Yolanda "Cookie" Parker, Greg Helmer and his wife Leslie, and Wendy Mitchell and Richard Katz.

Mitt Romney enlisted the help of "You know your a redneck..." comedian Jeff Foxworthy to bolster his support in the southern states of Mississippi and Alabama, where GOP contests are being held on Tuesday.

"We can't make an emotional decision," Foxworthy said to a crowd in Mobile, Alabama, per Slate's David Weigel. "This country made an emotional decision in 2008. I've never known anybody that's so divisive as this president! It's the have-nots versus the haves. No, no, no! It's all of us! I've been a have-not and a have! I'm still Jeff. I still drive my same crappy truck."

The purpose of the Romney campaign deploying Foxworthy is to help draw crowds, even if there's little evidence that celebrity endorsements actually draw votes. And while much is being made of Romney adopting a southern twang as he tries to win either of the states, Foxworthy at least diffuses some of the derision that Romney is undergoing a Mason-Dixon line makeover.

According to CNN, Romney quipped to Foxworthy, "I am looking forward to going there and hunting with you sometime. And you can actually show me which end of the rifle to point."

The comic's response: "That sounds even more dangerous than Cheney if you ask me. We may start with a BB gun and work our way up to a rifle."

The footage released today by Obama for America teases the upcoming documentary campaign short as if it's a thriller about the decision to send the Navy Seals in to kill Osama bin Laden. Bill Clinton appears in a brief excerpt, saying of Obama, "He took the harder, and the more honorable path. When I saw what had happened, I thought to myself, ‘I hope that’s the call I would’ve made."

The documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim, will be unveiled on Thursday.

Steve Schmidt, senior adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign, appeared on "Morning Joe" this morning and not only vouched for the film's accuracy, he suggested that the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was "reckless."

He said, "I think the notion of Sarah Palin being President of the United States is something that frightens me, frankly. And I played a part in that. And played a part in that because we were fueled by ambition to win. And I think that ambition to win, to victory is what drives people in politics. It is a chess match in a lot of ways, but that result in how we got there is something that troubles me a lot."

He also said that he felt he got a "little bit of PTSD" by watching the movie. The buzz over the movie will probably fade in the next couple of days, then start up again a bit around the time of the Emmys.

(Via Mediaite).

If there is a thru-line to the reviews for HBO's "Game Change," debuting tonight, it is that the movie is surprisingly sympathetic to Sarah Palin.

It shows just how green she was when she was thrust into the national spotlight and, while she was warned in advance of what she was getting in to, no other vice presidential candidate had ever faced the kind of scrutiny that she and her family did. Moreover, the movie shows just how devoted and loyal she was to her family, even in the height of her ambition, and how much she served as an inspiration to other parents of special needs children.

But as I wrote after seeing the movie about a month ago, Palin is not going to endorse this movie. There are plenty of embarrassing moments and, most importantly, moments when she appears to be losing it, but she and her supporters have not trusted what HBO, director Jay Roach and screenwriter Danny Strong would come up with from the start.

In countering the film, they have focused extensively on motive, and it is not hard to find connections between those behind the movie and their support for President Obama. One of the producers, Tom Hanks, narrates the Obama re-election campaign's documentary that debuts next week; HBO's co-president, Richard Plepler, co-hosted a fundraising for Obama just a couple of weeks ago; and the pay cabler itself has close ties to the White House, having a handful of their projects screened in the Family Theater and having gained exclusive rights to Obama's pre-inaugural concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

None of this, however, is at all secret and it is not much of a surprise. Hollywood leans left. Lost in the hubbub over the movie is the simple idea that politicians don't rush out to relive their most crushing defeats. John McCain has said that it "will be a cold day in Gila Bend" before he watches the movie. When Roach and Strong made "Recount," the account of the post-Election Day 2000 jockeying by the Bush and Gore camps to gain the upper hand in the Florida recount, the criticisms came from the Gore side, in particular former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who was tasked with leading the Democrats through the legal morass. His counterpart on the Bush side, James Baker, was so pleased with "Recount" that he hosted a screening.

Palin's supporters have suggested that, in making the film, somehow HBO has formed its own de-facto independent expenditure committee for the Obama, which is bizarre given that the former Alaska governor is not a candidate. But even if she had gotten into the race, and the network had slotted it into its schedule for maximum impact after Super Tuesday, and "Game Change" was not in the least bit sympathetic but a 100% hit piece, the network would not only have the media exemption under federal election law, but the extra protection that came from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. That was over the conservative production company's "Hillary, the Movie," a documentary that ran on-demand when Hillary Clinton was running for president, and it could not be taken as anything other than a project that made the case against her. From a majority of the court, the makers of "Hillary, the Movie" were protected by the First Amendment.

What the advance criticism of "Game Change" has done has merely given the movie more publicity. It's one reason the network is undertaken so many projects tied to recent history, including not just "Game Change" but last year's "Too Big to Fail" and, the year before, "The Special Relationship." HBO has been savvy in noting that the group of Palin aides who held a conference call to bash the movie had not seen it. When the movie premieres tonight, it will be in the spot it has so often been in: A lot of buzz, and many really good reviews.

Photos from the D.C. premiere of "Game Change" are here.

A report from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement showed that only 5% of younger voters --- those in their 20s --- participated in the Super Tuesday contests. On our latest Wilshire & Washington on the Radio, we talk to Morley Winograd, co-author (with Make Hais) of Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America, on whether this should be a warning for the GOP, or if the youth vote will once again prove elusive for both parties in 2012.

Join Maegan Carberry and myself for the latest W&W on the Radio, which you can listen to here, or on the link below.

The MPAA will host a screening "Bully," the documentary that its ratings board deemed an "R" rating despite protest from producer Harvey Weinstein and activists.

Weinstein will take part in a panel following the March 15 screening at the MPAA's headquarters in Washington. Joining him will be the movie's director Lee Hirsch and DC Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson.

The MPAA's rating triggered a petition drive in which a Michigan high school student who had been bullied delivered some 200,000 signatures to the trade association's Sherman Oaks headquarters. Weinstein and others have said that the "R" rating prevents them from showing the documentary in schools, and to get its message out to the very crowd that it is to influence. The "R" rating was given to the anti-bullying documentary for language.

The industry once again is popping up in political ads as one candidate attacks the other's show biz support.

The Massachetts Republican Party debuted a video last week called "The Elitist," in advance of Elizabeth Warren's fundraiser at the home of Heather Thomas and Skip Brittenham. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) already has been targeting the sheer number of out-of-state contributors that Warren has drawn, and today the New York Times interviews one of them, Cher.

“She makes an unbelievable impression,” Cher said of Warren. “I’m just thrilled every time I can hear the woman speak.”

Of all the Senate challengers in 2012, Warren may be the most popular in show biz, having already raised money at the home of Norman and Lyn Lear in November. But the the figures from the Center for Responsive Politics still show that other industries, including securities and investment, have given her more money.

Attacks on show biz are common in any election cycle, usually from social conservative Republicans who have little traction in entertainment. The difference is that Brown is trying to appeal to moderates in Massachusetts, and he's not be shy about highlighting his daughter Ayla's show biz aspirations. She's an American Idol semifinalist.

There's an equivalency effort afoot to paint Rush Limbaugh's remarks about Sandra Fluke as akin to Bill Maher's statements about Sarah Palin, and from the right there is pressure is on the Obama SuperPAC Priorities USA Action to return Maher's $1 million donation.

Bill Burton, the head of Priorities USA Action, told MSNBC that "some of those things were vulgar and inappropriate and said over the course of years of a comedian’s life. It’s not language I would use or language we would use at Priorities USA."

But he did not say that the money would be returned. Instead, he talked of the difference between Limbaugh and Maher.

"What the de facto leader of the Republican Party said to sexually degrade a woman who led in a political debate of our time is crazy. There’s no similarity about what Rush Limbaugh said, lying about the argument that Miss Fluke was making, a law student at Georgetown, and what a comedian has said in the past."

The full video is here.

Tom Hanks narrates "The Road We've Traveled," a documentary that President Obama's reelection compaign plans to unveil on March 15 at Obama for America field offices across the country. Davis Guggenheim, who won the Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," directed the doc, as he did a short on Obama for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

"How do we understand this president and his time in office? " Hanks asks in the trailer. "Do we look at the days headlines, or do we remember what we as a country have been through."

Surely the campaign hopes that the movie will generate a reaction on par with Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection pic "Morning in America."

Here's the trailer:

Bill Maher has caught some flack for calling the sponsor pullout of Rush Limbaugh's show "intimidation," even as critics from the right, including Sarah Palin, are calling on the Obama SuperPAC Priorities USA Action to return Maher's $1 million check. The reason: Maher's own comments about Palin.

"Chris Matthews got it right talking about me today:of course what #Rush Limbaugh said was vile but I don't like fatwas! Ur beating a dead pig," Maher tweeted today.

Limbaugh said that the 28 sponsors who have dropped his show are out of 18,000 whose ads are heard during his program, something he said was "like losing french fries" at a fast food restaurant. But he also denied that he actually had lost the advertisers, and that many merely requested that their spots not air on his show.

On "Hardball" today, Matthews highlighted the significance of the Limbaugh controversy, that Republican candidates are still afraid of saying anything to offend the talk show host.

Update: The Daily Caller says Alabama's Democratic Party is hosting a fundraiser featuring Maher.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Katy Butler, a Michigan high school student who has been bullied, will deliver 200,000 signatures today to the MPAA's Sherman Oaks offices to protest its "R" rating on The Weinstein Co.'s documentary "Bully."

Harvey Weinstein has been critical of the MPAA's decision, arguing that it prevents the film from being seen by the very audience that it will help.

Butler has been gathering signatures via Change.org.

The MPAA, meanwhile, has defended its rating, given the foul language in the pic.

JCPenney says that it will make sure that its ad spots do not appear during Rush Limbaugh's radio show in the furor over Limbaugh's remarks about Sandra Fluke.

"It has come to our attention that a handful of local radio stations may have played JCPenney radio spots adjacent to or during The Rush Limbaugh Show," the company said on its Facebook page. "To be clear, JCPenney is not a national advertiser of this show. We have a strict 'No Run' policy in place specifically regarding 'The Rush Limbaugh Show.' After JCPenney confirms the facts, we will contact any local radio station that is in violation of our radio advertising parameters to ensure that our 'No Run' policy is adhered to regarding this program."

The number of sponsors who have dropped out varies as some, like Netflix, claim that their spots ran on Limbaugh's show by mistake.

Think Progress puts the figure at 30 sponsors, while Politico puts it at 27.

Another figure has apologized for comments she made about Sandra Fluke: Patricia Heaton. A well-known conservative, Heaton said that "flippant" comments she made on Twitter "crossed the line."

Newt Gingrich has won Georgia, Mitt Romney has won Virginia and Vermont, but the state that all are watching is Ohio. "Too close to call" is the familiar refrain.

Update, 5:39 p.m.: Santorum has won Oklahoma (according to Fox News projection) and it is still close in Ohio. But many pundits are talking about the delegate count, as momentum gives way to the hard numbers. After this evening, it looks likely that Romney will haul away the lion's share, now winning Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts.

Update, 5:48 p.m.: Newt Gingrich is essentially going through the whole history of this herky jerky race, mentioning how many times he's been at top then fallen then come out at top again. He blames it on "the forces of Wall Street" and "elite" attacks against him, with the media complicit in shaping the narrative when such figures as Herman Cain and even Donald Trump were leading the pack.

"There are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. I am the tortoise. I take it one step at a time," Gingrich says.

Gingrich's mention of Trump got big laughs --- strange given that there was a point, before Trump endorsed Romney, when they were best buddies.

Santorum has won Tennessee.

Uodate, 5:53 p.m.: Politico's Mike Allen says that the Romney campaign will start to call Santorum and Gingrich "spoil sports" for not getting out of the race.

Update, 6:17 p.m.: Santorum is now leading in Ohio, although pundits expect Romney to pull through based on exit polls.

Santorum, too, may not be expecting that he will win the state, either, as he is touting his "golds" and "silver medals."

His speech is a mix of introducing his large family --- several times --- and a pitch against Obamacare.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the beginning of the end of freedom in America," Santorum says in a speech in Steubenville, Ohio. "Once [the goverment] has control of your life, then they got you."

He also makes a big deal about being outspent, to cushion expectations.

Update, 6:43 p.m.: Ann Romney thanks a long list, including Donald Trump, then makes a big pitch for women voters, which will have made the difference in Ohio if Romney wins. It also may be a tactic admission that work will have to be done to draw women after weeks of debate over birth control.

Romney tries to personalize his speech, pointing to "inspiring" and "heartbreaking" stories he has heard from voters along the trail. "President Obama keeps telling these folks that the recovery is here, but for these folks the recession is not over."

He says that Obama promised that he would create jobs, but that unemployment remains way too high. He doesn't mention the jobs chart that the Obama reelection campaign is touting.

Update, 7:28 p.m.: Santorum is still leading in Ohio, by about 14,000 votes with 72% in. And he has won North Dakota, according to CNN. The night is going to be won by Romney in delegates, but may be more of a draw in actual states won.

Update, 8:08 p.m.: Romney is now back in the lead in Ohio, by about 2,000 votes with 86% reporting.

Update, 8:24 p.m.: The trend is Romney pulling ahead in Ohio with what could be a very slim victory. But several networks have called Idaho for Romney.

Update, 9:07 p.m.: Romney pulls ever more so ahead, as votes trickle in. Whatever the outcome, you get the sense that the nature of the race didn't change all that much, with the fissures of the GOP still exposed.

Update, 9:12: Lost in all of the coverage of the close Ohio contest is what is happening elsewhere in the primary: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a national figure known for his quixotic battles for progressive causes, looks to be losing his congressional seat.

Update, 9:30: Five hours after polls close, the AP is calling the race for Romney. And Kucinich has conceded.

Again, the takeaway from the evening is that as much as the delegate count matters, in perception the race hasn't changed. Romney can't quite move on to the general election, but Santorum and Gingrich can't claim that they have a realistic shot of overtaking him. In other words, can't live with him, can't live without him.

The latest are AOL and Tax Resolution.

Limbaugh verbalized his apology on the air today, but dismissed the sponsor defections.

“They decided they don’t want you or your business anymore. . . . We’ll replace them.”

Sandra Fluke went on "The View" today, and said that she didn't think his apology "changes anything." He hasn't called her --- nor does she want that to happen. “I think his statements that he made on the air about me have been personal enough,” she said.

A postscript on Saturday's performance of "8": Martin Sheen, who appeared as Ted Olson, also is a well-known devoted Catholic. After the performance, I asked him how he reconciles his religion with support for same-sex marriage rights. The Catholic Church, which opposes same-sex marriage, supported the campaign for Prop 8 in California.

"My religion's highest standard is conscience. Nothing can get between your conscience and God, not even the church, because for 2,000 years, my church has been lifting up as exemplary various men and women in their lives who have served as inspiration to all of us over the centuries, and we call them saints. By canonizing these people who we believe have lived exceptional lives, we declare, or the church declares, that they are in heaven, that they are with God. And yet over the same people of time, the church has not condemned a single soul to hell because it does not have the authority. It does not even have the authority to condemn Hitler. There is no authority in the church and that has never changed, and it cannot change otherwise they lose their authority. They do not have the authority to condemn anybody. They can't say anybody is in hell. That is between [that person and] God. The church is not God.

"The church is a conduit, and it is a spiritual journey, but it is not the end of the journey. Our lives are about living honestly in the community, serving each other. We carry our faith outside the church. The church is an institution, primarily of men, at least they are the major authorities. And so they are flawed,obviously. And so they are not authorized from preventing any member from following their conscience no matter what that is. You can't get between a person's conscience and their God. Nobody can do that."

Update: The benefit performance raised $2 million for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Photos: WireImage, AFER.