Congressional leaders were lampooned Saturday night at the 120th annual Gridiron Club dinner, with singers posing as Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Showstoppers included a rock-’n’-roll tribute to freshman Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Obama’s name was a running mention during the show, featuring red-state/blue-state skits where Democrats and Republicans were equally satirized before the white-tied and ball-gowned audience. The parodies are a tradition of the club, which is made up of Washington-based journalists.

To the tune of “Ohio,” a singer portraying Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) wondered, “Why, oh why oh?/Why did I ever lose Ohio?” Hearst columnist Helen Thomas, posing as Teresa Heinz Kerry, warbled to the tune “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”: “Thank heaven, he lost the race./I’d have to move into a smaller place./Thank heaven/no Air Force One./My plane is faster and it has more space.”

The rockabilly hit “Be Bop a Lula” was renamed “Be Bop Messiah” for Obama’s roast. Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, dressed in a gold-lamé Elvis costume — with a halo — and playing Obama sang, “Well, Barack Obama, I’m your savior./Barack Obama, this week’s flavor./Barack Obama — answered prayer./Barack Obama, levitator. … Barack Obama’s go-hoh-honna save ya now, save ya now, save ya now./Well I’m that kid from Illinois/’bout my history I’m kinda coy./No politican, I’ve been thinkin’/can touch Obama since ol’ Abe Lincoln.”

To counter, to the torch tune of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” a singer posing as Clinton put it this way: “Forget that kid Obama. I’m the country charmah/who’s gonna turn the red states blue.”

DeLay’s ethics problems provided grist for the show. To the tune of “You’re the Top,” the DeLay character sang, “I’m an ace/at beating scandal./Just replaced/the whole ethics panel./I changed the rules to fit my legal dance./I’m red meat — prime/I’m Hastert’s spine.”

Speaking of Hastert. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) heads to St. Louis on Saturday to headline a funder for his congressional war chest. The former wrestling coach will also take in the NCAA wrestling championships when he is in the city. The Speaker frequently catches the collegiate matches.

Hyde to announce retirement. International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) has told several people that he will announce in a few weeks that he will not seek another term. I wrote in my Tuesday Sun-Times column that Hyde, with a busy committee agenda and a focus on United Nations reform, intends to serve out his term. He played a behind-the-scenes role in lobbying the White House to name U.N. critic John Bolton the new U.N. ambassador.

Journeys with Pelosi. A few weekends ago, while in New York to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Pelosi took some time off to scout locations for daughter Alexandra Pelosi’s wedding. That’s the producer daughter whose documentary on the 2000 presidential campaign, “Journeys with George,” was followed with the 2004 campaign-trail HBO film “Diary of a Political Tourist.”

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it