Singing Dems’ praises

Pity the poor Republican party planner in a town filled with Democratic entertainers.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) may have a list of singers lined up to croon people into opening their wallets at fundraisers (James Blunt and Alicia Keys have been approached, among other A-listers, to sing for Clinton at her megawatt soiree in Beverly Hills on Saturday). But don’t expect the same treatment when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney comes to town to raise money for his Republican presidential bid the following week.

Unless you’re Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who can provide his own entertainment, the local GOP fundraisers are less like Billboard magazine’s Top 10 and more like late-night music infomercials.

Roger Williams, a pianist somewhat past his moment, headlined a gathering last year for former President George H.W. Bush at a Brentwood gala that raised money for the Republican Party. “Have you ever been up at 3 a.m.?” asked one Republican donor. “You can see him on TV. To say the least, we didn’t hype the entertainment.”

It’s less a question of Republicans not knowing how to have fun than it is a matter of history. Democratic activists essentially invented what has become a staple of Hollywood politics, the concert-fundraiser hybrid. Think of it as the political equivalent of a Prius, without the moralizing.

Mall magnate Rick Caruso, who is hosting a cocktail party for Romney on Tuesday night, is unfazed by the lack of A-list entertainment at Republican events.

“We’re here to raise money,” he said, adding that he hopes to bring in more than $2 million for Romney. (Side note: Caruso is known for playing Frank Sinatra albums as background music. Just pay a visit to his mall, the Grove.)

The Clintons, who came into office with vast support in Hollywood, went on to corner the market like a sort of Washington-based talent agency. (Clinton friend Diana Krall recently crooned for the former first family at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Her husband, Elvis Costello, watched from the audience.)

Contrast that with GOP presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had to be content to be serenaded in Dallas by a former “American Idol” contestant, Celena Rae.

Donna Bojarsky, a longtime celebrity political consultant, was one of the early pioneers of recruiting performers for political events. During Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, she was responsible for lining up all the acts. (Michael Bolton played at a rally in Chicago; Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant sang “To Sir With Love” in Washington.)

Bojarsky has it down to a science: Figure out a performer’s hometown and schedule them on a campaign stop there. Make a list of singers who would be willing to lead a rally. “There’s nothing like a great musician or a well-known star to warm up a crowd,” Bojarsky said. “It offers a sense of cultural validation.”

These days, Sen. Clinton’s supporters are making the most of her family’s music-industry connections. After all, the Clintons continue to include music icons Quincy Jones and Clarence Avant among their top supporters, and they can get anyone to play on a tennis court or terrace. In the coming weeks, Clinton’s loyalists hope to put together a number of entertainment-based fundraisers for her, including a gospel concert. (They’re looking for help from Lil’ Kim and Wyclef Jean.)

“It’s going to be huge,” said Clinton fundraiser Daphna Ziman. “We’re looking at maybe holding it at the Forum.”

Others, meanwhile, have been lining up their own celebrity house bands. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) recently held a concert in D.C. that looked like a Grammy telecast, with performances by Tony Bennett, James Taylor, Carole King and various surviving members of the Grateful Dead.

This week, presidential contender Christopher J. Dodd, the Democratic senator from Connecticut, held a fundraiser at Rock Hall of Famer Paul Simon’s house in New York.

Regulars on the political fundraising circuit trade memories of their favorite benefits or galas the way other people do of concerts: There was the time Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross sang together at a Democratic fundraiser on Berry Gordy’s tennis court, and when the Red Hot Chili Peppers flew in from Japan to play for Sen. John F. Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, and when Bruce Springsteen performed at an election-eve rally for Kerry in Madison, Wis.

Rocker Joan Jett sang at a bar in Des Moines for 2004 Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean. Both Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge played Democratic gigs in “Pulp Fiction” producer Lawrence Bender’s backyard.

Donors on the Democratic side, accustomed to years of private backyard concerts, have come to expect the live musical fanfare. “It makes our events more fun,” said one politico.

It all goes to show that in Hollywood, even politics is helped by the right soundtrack.

tina.daunt@latimes.com