It was hard to watch Hillary Rodham Clinton testify at the Benghazi hearings on Thursday without a rush of reactions. Perhaps the most dominant one was entrancement. You might think a Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t come up with some of the moments of partisan drama — and absurdist comedy — that played out in front of the House select committee.

As it turns out, a lot of screenwriters have come up with those moments, and the sight of lawmakers like Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) squaring off with the former secretary of State (and with panel Democrats) evoked more than its share of cinematic reference points.

Perhaps the Yoda costumes were all sold out. But Charles Koch showed up his critics this week with a mischievous nod to his reputation among liberals as the master of political darkness.

Yes, he dressed up as Darth Vader.

The link came after an interview on Marketplace , a public radio show, when host Kai Ryssdal playfully asked him about his politcal enemies.

“Oh yeah, that’s why I get all the death threats,” Koch responded.

Ryssdahl was pleased.

Democrats called Friday for the congressional inquiry into the Benghazi attacks to be dissolved, pointing to Hillary Rodham Clinton's marathon testimony the day before that they say left no doubt it was simply a "taxpayer-funded fishing expedition."

But they backed off a previous threat to quit the committee altogether.

The five House Democrats on the panel consulted with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on Friday, after which they demanded that Speaker John A. Boehner "immediately shut down this abusive, wasteful and obviously partisan effort."

But barring that unlikely decision, the Democrats said in a statement that they would continue to serve on it "to make sure that the facts are known and conspiracy theories are debunked."

The five members – including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) – also called on the panel's chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, to release the transcripts of all witness interviews.

Before Thursday's hearing, Schiff was among those suggesting that by continuing to participate in the probe, Democrats were granting it legitimacy it did not deserve. He pointed to the Republicans' move to form a similar committee to investigate Planned Parenthood as an example of why Democrats should be concerned with what they increasingly see as a partisan investigation.

But if they were to leave the committee, they would lose the ability to access its work, of concern in the event of selective leaks from the other side.

At a Democratic National Committee event earlier Friday, Pelosi praised the five Democratic members of the committee for the role they played at the Clinton hearing and cited the comment from a Clinton rival during last week's Democratic debate that the panel's ongoing probe into her emails is overblown.

"As Bernie Sanders said, and as we all know, enough is enough," Pelosi said.

Just a dozen or so hours after leaving a Capitol hearing room, Hillary Rodham Clinton strode onto a ballroom stage to a welcome at a Democratic function that seemed something of a victory lap.

"It's been quite a week, hasn't it?" Clinton said of a period in which two Democratic rivals left the race, another declined to join it and she endured marathon congressional testimony, leaving unscathed.

"I'm just grateful I recovered my voice, which I lost a little bit."

Things are indeed good in Hillaryland after a summer of struggles, with the former secretary of State seemingly solidifying her position at the top of the Democratic field.

She was the last of four candidates who spoke at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum event Friday. But the first, Lincoln Chafee, used his appearance to announce the end of his campaign. Clinton praised the man who could have been the fifth candidate, Vice President Joe Biden, saying she was sure he would "be right there with us on the front lines."

Clinton's remarks reiterated her support for policies that would ease student loan debt, narrow a gap in pay between men and women and provide paid family leave. And she placed renewed emphasis on protecting abortion rights, raising Republicans' consideration of another special congressional committee that would investigate Planned Parenthood.

"After my experience yesterday, I am just amazed that they are even talking about [it]," she said. "I think we all know by now that's just code for a partisan witch hunt."

And as she works to rally the party behind her, she noted there was "a long campaign still ahead of us," and predicted that Republicans would be "hurling insults" and "pointing fingers to try to blame people" for America's challenges.

"You can listen to their debates for hours — and unfortunately some of us have to," she said. "You won't hear a single solution to any of the problems we're facing here at home or around the world."

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee's short-lived bid for the Democratic presidential nomination was felled by paltry fundraising, in addition to a lack of name recognition and the challenge of running against front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democratic senator-turned-governor never made much of a splash in a primary race dominated by Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the possible candidacy of Vice President Joe Biden. In announcing his campaign, he highlighted his opposition to the war in Iraq as a senator, and, in a more unorthodox pitch, advocated converting to the metric system.

He reported raising just $44,506 through the end of September but made a personal loan to his campaign of $363,694. He had $284,526 cash on hand at the end of the most recent fundraising period.

In the sole Democratic debate so far, he had the least amount of speaking time – less even than any Republican had on more crowded debate stages. He touted his “high ethical standards” and scandal-free record over 30 years in public office. But he stumbled on a question about his vote in the Senate to repeal provisions of a law that separated financial institutions’ commercial and investment banking activities.

Lincoln Chafee, a former Rhode Island senator and governor, is withdrawing from the Democratic presidential race. Chaffee, who had drawn minuscule support in polls, said he will discuss his decision this morning at a Democratic women's forum in Washington.

It has all the makings of a box-office blockbuster: marquee stars (Reese Witherspoon, Ben Affleck), in-demand director (J.J. Abrams) and backing from studio moguls (Jeffrey Katzenberg).

But this combined star power isn’t coming soon to a theater near you -- it’s dominating Hillary Rodham Clinton’s donor list.

Compared to the Clinton campaign megaplex, her competition feels more like a smaller boutique theater: less lavishly star-studded but with some recognizable names. Sen. Bernie Sanders, for example, has the backing of singer Jackson Browne and director Adam McKay. Jeb Bush’s supporters include Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer and sports broadcaster Jim Nantz.

Entertainment donors in California have poured $5.5 million into the 2016 presidential race. Of that, Clinton has collected nine out of every 10 dollars -- a total of $5 million as of Sept. 30, which gives her a commanding lead in the race to collect checks from the state’s signature industry.