This might be Jay Leno’s fourth time hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, but Washington has changed since the last time he spoke, back in 2004.

President Barack Obama — who has been a guest on Leno’s “Tonight Show” — is the man to impress now.

But dinner organizers aren’t worried. White House Correspondents’ Association President Ed Chen is confident in his pick. “I just thought he’d be a good one,” Chen said. “He’s a longtime friend of the association. He’s done this gig before. The Obamas like him. He likes them, and I didn’t want somebody terribly edgy and profane. I wanted someone genuinely funny and who I thought would be appropriate as an entertainer for the president of the United States — not like some past entertainers.”

Leno might not be as controversial as past speakers Don Imus and Stephen Colbert, but he might find that even the most congenial of comedians become subject to criticism. Last year, host Wanda Sykes received generally positive praise but didn’t escape the night without falling into a couple of booby traps with jokes about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Rush Limbaugh’s past addiction to painkillers. (A few boos from the audience followed.)

And Leno has a recent scandal of his own to confront, as his faceoff with Conan O’Brien for the “Tonight Show” perch is still fresh on the public’s mind.

In conversations The Hill had with several comedians about how Leno should approach the job, many made the same joke: that he should hope he doesn’t get on at 10 p.m., which has proven to be a bad hour for him. (The canceling of Leno’s 10 p.m. show led to his public fight with O’Brien over “The Tonight Show.”)

After getting in a few jokes of their own, the comedy panel also advised the veteran performer on what it takes to make a Washington audience laugh, which current issues he should bring up and if he should confront his scandal headon.

Mike Larsen

Larsen spent nearly 20 years in Hollywood as a stand-up comedian and sitcom writer before becoming Rep. Jackie Speier’s (D-Calif.) communications director. He has performed on Leno’s show twice and has written for Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Carey, among others. Larsen recently left Speier’s office to return to his entertainment career.

On the WHCA Dinner audience: “From my experience witnessing these correspondents’ dinners, you have to accept the fact there will be controversy, whether you try to get it or not. Everyone in Washington has a sense of humor — as long as you’re joking about the other side, and the minute it gets the least bit uncomfortable, they’ll throw you under the bus … It’s a little bit of a snake pit for comedians, but it’s also this incredible opportunity. I’ve performed at a lot of political events, and I know that no matter what I say, there will be a couple times where I get an ‘ooo.’ And the truth is you have to take that as a laugh.”

On Leno’s approach: “He’s been doing comedy longer than I think [Michigan Democratic Rep.] John Dingell’s been in Congress… His monologue every night is very topical, so I wouldn’t imagine this is that much different from his regular monologues. The possible difference is you can be a little more in the weeds. You can make a joke more specifically about [House Minority Leader] John Boehner [R-Ohio], or someone who is a little less well-known than that.”

Jamie Mcintyre

The Military.com blogger and former CNN correspondent co-won this year’s Commedia dell Media competition to find D.C.’s funniest journalist.

On following President Obama’s introductory speech: “Beware of the warm-up act. Traditionally the president does comedy at the White House dinner, and is always funny. After all, he’s got the same writers who did that boffo financial reform speech [last] week. Seriously, it’s hard to follow the president.”

On topics Leno should touch on: “[It’s] always good to be topical, and there’s nothing like a good collateralized debt obligation or credit default swap joke to get the crowd loosened up.”

Kathy Griffin

Griffin has performed in Washington several times during the past few years and was in town last month to lead a protest against the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

On Leno’s performance prospects: “I know Jay will do a great job. It’s in his ‘wheelhouse,’ as they say in Hollywood. Jay has performed for several presidents. He has written jokes for many political events.”

On Leno’s scandal: “He also has a special edge this year, as he was involved in a real-life television elected-office scandal of his own ... and he won! Just ask the president. Of course, I mean [NBC] President Jeff Zucker.”

Emily Goodin contributed to this article.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) defended her use of the word "s***tty" at a hearing examining a federal investigation into Goldman Sachs. 

McCaskill and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who helms the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, used the term several times while quoting from internal company e-mails. 

She took to her widely-followed Twitter, saying:

Just so Mom and Missourians know, my use of bad word in hearing today was only quoting Goldman's language in one of their internal emails.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will create an account on the social networking site Twitter, according to media reports.

The announcement comes after the socialist Chavez compared use of the social networking sites to terrorism due to negative comments made against him on Twitter and Facebook.

"Comandante Chavez is going to open his Twitter account soon to wage the battle online," Diosdado Cabello, head of the country’s telecommunications regulator, said today on state television, according to Bloomberg. "I’m sure he’ll break records for numbers of followers."

The message appears to be a change of pace for Chavez, who was accused by the opposition of trying to block the sites because of negative sentiments being aired on them.

Now, he is poised to take his critics head-on.

Should Chavez follow through, he would become one of several world leaders who have official accounts, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who has over 3.7 million followers.

Obama ranks among the top 5 most-followed Twitter accounts in the world.

Michael J. Fox is making his return to the midterm elections.

After cutting some memorable campaign commercials for now-Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) four years ago, Fox is back in a new spot for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).

"Arlen Specter is moving forward," Fox says. "He's won the battles to double funding for biomedical research, to find cures and to save lives.

"He's smart, tough and always moving forward."

Fox's 2006 midterm ads for Cardin and McCaskill drew plenty of attention, especially after Rush Limbaugh accused him of exaggerating the effects of his Parkinson's disease in the ads.

Specter faces Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) in the May 18 primary.

This week marks the beginning of HouseLive.gov, the lower chamber's attempt to put all of its floor proceedings online.

In addition to offering live video, much as C-SPAN already does, the newly unveiled site also includes searchable and downloadable video archives, assembled by the Office of the Clerk, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) announced in a blog post on Monday.

Viewers can also click on specific points in a recorded debate -- when voting begins, for example -- and automatically begin streaming the proceeding right there. And for those who intend to keep close track of floor speeches and debates, HouseLive.gov will sync its updates to an RSS feed.

However, the technology is still in beta, so interested readers who navigate over to the new site right now may notice (as we just did) that it isn't exactly loading.

The queen of talk wants people to stop yapping. At least while they're behind the wheel.

Oprah Winfrey is hosting a No Phone Zone rally in D.C. on Friday, where speakers will include Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, O Magazine editor-at-large (and Winfrey BFF) Gayle King, and D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.  The only person missing from the get-together? The grande dame herself.

Winfrey will be streamed in live by video conference from Chicago, Ill., where she films her daily talk show. The host tapes her show between 10 and 11 a.m. every day, but it doesn't air until 4 p.m. Central Time.

Members of the press are invited to the rally at no cost, but those without credentials will be expected to pay the Newseum's standard entry fee of $19.95. Which begs the question of why anyone would pay 20 bucks to watch Oprah say at 10 a.m. what she's going to say for free at 4 p.m. 

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) made network producers' lives a little tougher on Tuesday after repeatedly dropping an expletive during a congressional hearing.

Levin repeatedly quoted a document during a hearing with Goldman Sachs executives which featured company officials talking about a "sh***y deal" on which the investment bank was working.

While there was no immediate count as to how many times Michigan's senior senator repeated the phrase, it quickly drew guffaws on Twitter and beyond, where a number of people were closely watching the hearing.

The hearing, convened by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which Levin chairs, was also set to grill Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein in an afternoon panel.

The hearing is being monitored especially closely after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil fraud charges against the Wall Street titan earlier in the month, injecting the company into the center of the financial regulatory reform debate.

Three Senate Democrats plan to press Facebook on Tuesday for a new privacy policy they say will turn private information over to advertisers.

In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Col.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) will emphasize that social networks are still the "Wild West of the Internet," which means sites like Facebook need to simplify the privacy process while explaining how their personal information will be used.

The letter -- and press conference at the Capitol this afternoon to present it -- arrive just a day after Schumer asked the Federal Trade Commission in a letter Sunday to set new privacy guidelines for all social networks.

Facebook recently debuted an "instant personalization" feature that allows only select websites to cull a user's profile information, unless those users opt out. Additionally, the site debuted its Open Graph API last week, which allows sites or applications to draw details from Facebook pages to be used in special ads or targeted offers.

Schumer expressed discomfort this weekend about those features, specifically taking issue with Facebook's decision to opt all users into the system automatically. He thus called on the FTC to establish guidelines for how social networks can share private information with other sites.

However, Facebook responded on Sunday, stressing "Facebook’s highest priority is to keep and build the trust of the more than 400 million people who visit our service every month."

The company had not yet received Schumer's new letter as of early Tuesday, but Facebook offer a statement promising cooperation with any dissatisfied lawmakers.

"We appreciate the concerns raised by Sen. Schumer and expect that further dialogue with interested members of Congress about the user controls that accompany the tools announced by Facebook last week will alleviate any concerns they may have," spokesman Andrew Noyes told The Hill.

Potential party crashers will have a tough time getting into the pre-parties surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this Saturday.

It’s a Washington tradition for the uninvited to dress up and slip into the various cocktail receptions scattered throughout the Hilton Hotel before the dinner begins.

This year, however, organizers of the sold-out event are determined to keep the crowds at more manageable levels than last year’s gathering, which was jam-packed to epic proportions.

“We’re just trying to keep out people who aren’t invited because it’s gotten so crowded, that’s all,” said Bloomberg’s Ed Chen, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

One major change is that the public will not be allowed near the red-carpet area just inside the Hilton’s revolving doors. Usually that spot has a roped-off space for onlookers to cheer and photograph celebrity arrivals.

The change will make it more difficult for people to crash the party while making it easier for people with invitations to arrive.

In order to get onto the terrace level, where the red-carpet arrivals take place, or the downstairs concourse level, where the pre-parties take place, attendees will need either a dinner ticket or a ticket to one of the pre-dinner cocktail receptions. Credentialed media covering the spectacle will also be allowed in.

The association will have extra staff on hand to make sure people have invitations, and to monitor crowd flow.

“The only people allowed on the red-carpet level are event attendees. The people staying in the hotel and the general public will not be allowed on that level. And everyone covering the red carpet will be credentialed and let in at a certain time by security,” said Julie Whiston, executive director of the association.

“We’re being much tighter so our guests will be more comfortable and we won’t have the crowding we had last year.”

Last year’s pre-dinner receptions were so crowded, guests (both invited and crashers) had to push their way through the hallways and around VIPs.

The crowds blocked the hallways so badly that several news organizations had to get their celebrity guests into the dinner by going through the kitchen.

“We had to go through the kitchen to get inside the dining room. We had a wand inside there with the Secret Service,” said CNN spokeswoman Edie Emery of last year’s festivities. “That’s something you don’t want to put your guests through.”

Part of the problem was that the outside pool area, where several pre-parties are usually held, was closed for renovation, forcing all the receptions to be held downstairs, rather than split between the terrace and concourse levels. It will be closed again this year as the Hilton continues to undergo construction.

Officials at the Hilton Hotel did not respond to a request for comment.

There will be several ways for people with tickets to get to the downstairs area for this year’s event. Traditionally, most people go down the escalators, which are so narrow that only one person can fit and there is usually a swarm of bodies waiting to get through.

That small area and the fact that there will be check-in lines has people concerned that even if they hold the proper invites, there will be a long wait to get to the festivities.

Party planners aren’t worried, though.

“We worked it all out,” Whiston said. “We’ve got lots of staff and lots of help.”

In addition to the escalators, there is a bank of elevators guests can take to get downstairs.

Another option would be to go into the ballroom where the dinner is held through the terrace level and exit the ballroom through the concourse level in order to get to the receptions. There is an additional staircase off the elevator bank that is usually blocked off by the rope lines of cheering crowds but should, theoretically, be open this year.

Chen’s advice to attendees: “Just be patient and be polite. And we’ll all get through this just fine.”

Demand for this year’s event was so high that organizers had to turn away some organizations that wanted additional tickets.

“Requests came in for 50 more tables than we had,” Chen said. “Both in the size of the response and the speed of the response for when we put out the notice saying now is the time to apply for tables, it was the fastest and the biggest ever.”

Chen, as president of the association, has the thankless task of helping to decide which organizations get which tables and how many tickets.

“I’m in a wheelchair now — broken legs, arm in a sling,” he joked. “You get kind of pretty beat up before this is over, and you hear all kinds of sob stories and anguished pleas. ... People saying their jobs are on the line, their careers are at stake. You just hear everything.”