Lights, Cameras--Politics! : In Los Angeles, Campaigning Has Become Star Struck

If this were a motion picture, it would doubtless be a blockbuster. Jack Nicholson. Warren Beatty. Carrie Fisher. Edward Asner. Ed Begley Jr. Morgan Fairchild. Harry Hamlin. Valerie Harper. Donna Mills. Victoria Principal. Original score by Don Henley.

But it’s not a movie. It’s not even a mini-series. This cast of characters is just part of the “dinner committee” for a fund-raiser for a candidate for Los Angeles City Council.

Welcome to politics, Los Angeles style. Little operates in this city according to the usual rules, and politics is no exception. To have a successful political “event,” let alone a chance of ascending to a political office, one apparently needs a bevy of celebrities on your dinner committee and at your side.

The first major Los Angeles fund-raiser for the ill-fated Gary Hart presidential campaign was aptly named “Opening Night.” Opening Night really was two parties in one. For $50, you could mill around downstairs at the Palace club, talk to yuppie lawyers, and, eventually, hear Gary Hart speak. For $250, you could go upstairs and hang out with the likes of Warren Beatty, John Forsythe, William Schallert, and even Gary Hart.

In the last month, I have received numerous star-studded invitations. For example, a coalition supporting Proposition 95--the “Hunger and Homelessness Funding Initiative”--hosted “L.A. Law Night,” during which the guest could enjoy cocktails with virtually the entire cast of the series.

If that’s not enough, there was the “Hollywood Wrap Party” for the “Star Spangled Caravan.” As described in the invitation, the caravan was a “special group of Hollywood celebrities who have come together to help the Democratic ticket” by traveling around in a bus registering voters in Washington, Oregon, and California. The “special group” included Justine Bateman, LeVar Burton, John Larroquette, Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Perkins, and Jimmy Smits.

This “wrap party” apparently was a “welcome home celebration” for this group of wandering stars. For only $44, which included valet parking, you could have been there as the bus pulled into town and the group disembarked.

The wrap party invitation also promised a “Surprise Political Guest.” What a twist. What will those campaign whizzes think of next?

In this town, an event without stars is doomed to failure. Or at least that is the perception. In one campaign I have been working on, we were discussing our first major fund-raiser, which we had been planning for a few weeks for a Democratic candidate. Someone reported that there was a hitch. Bruce Willis had cancelled. Not to worry--he was still supporting us--but he had a conflict. We decided to see whether we could get a suitable replacement; it was agreed that, if not, the event would be cancelled until Bruce’s schedule loosened up. This whole event depended entirely on Bruce Willis. The candidate’s schedule was not even discussed.

The Democrats do not have a total lock on the concept. A number of stars have lent their services to the other side, including Bob Hope, Cheryl Ladd and Tiffany. Apparently, a competing bus trip for George Bush is being planned, and invitations have been extended to Chuck Norris and Tony Danza. Perhaps a mini-van will do.

Of course, there is a positive side to this infestation of celebrities into politics. These people have influence and can increase involvement. It is certainly commendable that celebrities would devote their energies to political causes rather than the more traditional pastimes of fast cars, designer clothes and other hedonic pursuits. One is hard-pressed to find fault with anyone willing to get on a bus and go through California, Washington and Oregon registering voters.

Nevertheless, this trend is troublesome. First, it displaces the grass roots in Los Angeles. This courting of the stars gives off the impression, real or imagined, that the only ones who matter are stars and a limited number of lawyers and executives who cavort with and have made their money through those stars. In other cities, the party committees are composed of local political activists. Here, those individuals are given second billing or ignored completely.

Second, it diverts the candidate’s attention from more important things. Having these individuals on the party list is not without costs. Candidates have to spend a great deal of time courting these stars of stage and screen. Not only are campaigns mostly waged on television, the people that candidates interact with to an ever expanding degree are stars, people quite a bit removed from the average citizen.

Third, and even more troublesome, it reflects the degree of interest people have in politics today. It seems as though you cannot have a successful event unless you have celebrities. People otherwise will not attend a fund-raiser and may not contribute. Celebrities and/or their homes are the primary drawing cards, not the candidate or the issue.

Finally, I have no evidence that because these individuals are successful on screen and on television that they are the visionaries that we need in politics. As the “Star Spangled Caravan” invitation notes, “The future of our nation is at stake in the 1988 elections.” If the future of our nation is at stake, do we really want Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy at the helm? We have recently had one actor turned politician in charge, and the results have been an unmitigated disaster.

I admit that, like probably everyone else, I am a star-gazer at heart. I love to see Jack Nicholson on the silver screen. I get a kick when I very occasionally catch a glimpse of him on the streets of Los Angeles. I can even tolerate it when I watch a Laker game and the camera keeps focusing on Jack for his reaction to Magic’s last pass; basketball is, after all, just entertainment.

But I do not want to see him at political events. If a political event cannot succeed unless it is turned into the equivalent of a Hollywood premier, we are all very much in trouble.