Perot, Economy Cool Hollywood Push for Clinton : Art and politics: In 1988, Dukakis got a warm welcome in traditionally Democratic filmland, but times have changed.

Only one day after the 1988 primaries ended, the chief fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis flew to Los Angeles and persuaded three Hollywood titans--MCA Inc. Chairman Lew Wasserman, department-store heir and independent producer Ted Field and Barry Diller, former chairman of Fox Inc.--to give $100,000 apiece to the Democratic National Committee.

Hollywood’s largesse is something that Democratic candidates have come to count on. But four years later, Gov. Bill Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is having a much harder time getting entertainment industry figures to give him their endorsement, much less open their checkbooks.

A few--including Katharine Hepburn, Willie Nelson, Kirstie Alley, Dennis Miller and influential publicist Pat Kingsley--are already endorsing Ross Perot. Other celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Sally Field are said to be intrigued by the maverick Texan but not yet committed to him.

Danny Goldberg, vice president of Atlantic Records and chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said, “I still have the presumption of supporting Clinton and have publicly identified with him because I’m a lifelong Democrat . . . but Perot is a tantalizing and fascinating figure in the race, even for me.”

Perot is not Clinton’s only problem, however. Disenchantment with the political system is as widespread in Hollywood as it is in the country at large. Not only has the Arkansas governor failed to arouse enthusiasm among self-described progressives in Hollywood, but he has yet to look like a winner to a community tired of being courted by losers. His fund-raising efforts are also hampered by the poor economy and its effect on the movie industry. In addition, many Democrats are placing a higher priority on getting Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein elected to the U.S. Senate. Others express a kind of contribution fatigue--a weariness over being constantly asked to dig into their pockets.

Among those sitting out the campaign is producer and political activist Norman Lear, who has given huge sums to Democrats in the past but has lately proclaimed his disappointment with the party. At one point he was rumored to be flirting with a Perot endorsement.

While he is not in fact supporting Perot, Lear said, “I couldn’t be a more disaffected Democrat.” He added that after he watched the Senate Judiciary Committee’s treatment of University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill at the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last fall, “I couldn’t bear any more of both parties, and I’ve been kind of tuned out since then.”

The sense of frustration is universal, he said. “I haven’t talked to anybody who isn’t saying the same thing.”

Most industry insiders expect Hollywood, where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, to come around for Clinton eventually. And a stirring performance by Clinton at the Democratic Convention later this month could inspire a spurt of generosity. “You will see interest increase after the convention,” predicted John Emerson, Clinton’s California campaign manager. “The stakes are so high in ‘92, especially on issues of concern to progressives in the entertainment industry. I have no doubt there will be a great deal of enthusiasm.”

Emerson said enthusiasm for the independent candidate will wane “as the window on Ross Perot’s soul gets more exposed,” revealing “someone who is ideologically very (right-wing).” Others in the industry said Perot was already doomed in Hollywood because of questions about his attitudes toward homosexuals and reports of his penchant for investigating opponents (which Perot said have been vastly exaggerated).

Clinton supporters say a pre-convention lull is nothing out of the ordinary. “Given my experience with Dukakis, I’m seeing something that is very closely paralleling that fund-raising curve. . .,” said Bob Burkett, vice president of Interscope, the production company owned by Ted Field, and a Clinton fund-raiser. “But most people, just like most Americans, have not yet focused on this election.” A pre-primary fund-raiser at Field’s house raised $450,000 and other events are planned for August and September, although no details are yet available, according to Burkett.

“In the last few days, things have picked up considerably,” he added, noting that he received $100,000 in commitments this week from entertainment figures whose names he declined to disclose.

But Jane Nathanson, who hosted a $1,000-a-person cocktail fund-raiser for the Democratic Party last weekend along with her husband, Marc, the chairman and chief executive of Falcon Cable Television, said, “People will support (Clinton), but I don’t think they will do it enthusiastically.” As a sign of the strapped times, she noted, Democrats were only able to sell 65 tickets to her event instead of the hoped-for 120.

Similarly, Nick Patsaouras, California finance chairman for the Dukakis campaign, recalled that four years ago “there was a different spirit, a good upbeat feeling” and a “continuum” rather than a pause between the primary and the general election. This year, he said, “no one is excited.”

Yet despite the generous support he was able to attract, the aloof and intellectual Dukakis also left Hollywood cold. In Times political writer Ronald Brownstein’s book, “The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood-Washington Connection,” Irving Azoff, former chairman of MCA’s Music Entertainment Group, is quoted as declaring in mid-September, 1988: “There has never been a Democratic candidate for president at this stage of the election to have less contact with the Westside entertainment and liberal Jewish communities.”

For Clinton, the picture is certainly not all bad. He has the support of Peter Guber, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment; Richard Dreyfuss; Chevy Chase; Warren Beatty; Mary Steenburgen, as well as producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (“Designing Women” and “Evening Shade”), a fellow Arkansan and longtime friend of Clinton, whose husband and co-executive producer, Harry Thomason, is the candidate’s television adviser.

U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska was the early favorite in Hollywood, and naming him the vice presidential candidate would likely enhance Clinton’s support there. Meanwhile, Clinton has managed to capture almost all of Kerrey’s major backers, including Ted Field; John F. Cooke, the president of the Disney Channel; Mike Medavoy, the chairman of TriStar Pictures; and Peter Hoffman, former president of Carolco Pictures.

Breaking rank with the other Kerrey enthusiasts is publicist Kingsley, whose clients include Candice Bergen, Cher and Jodie Foster. “My feeling is the system wasn’t working,” said Kingsley, who plans to travel to Dallas next week to find out from Perot how she can aid his campaign. Of her clients, only Sally Field, who held an early, well-attended fund-raiser for Dukakis in 1988, has so far considered supporting the independent as-yet undeclared candidate. “Sally is interested but she hasn’t crossed the line to being committed,” said Kingsley, adding that Field’s husband, producer Alan Greisman (“Soapdish”), is a firm Perot supporter.

Other entertainment figures who are on the fence include Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Tom Selleck and Walt Disney Co. President Frank Wells. Nicholson, said an associate who demanded anonymity, “has doubts about Clinton” and questions about his character. “Basically, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do,” the associate said. “He is reading everything he can before deciding what to do. This is a very wrenching experience, to think of leaving the Democratic Party to support someone else.”

Spielberg “doesn’t know enough about” Perot to support him, according to his spokesman, Marvin Levy, while Selleck, an avid supporter of former President Ronald Reagan, is registered as an independent and is “not supporting anyone at this stage of the game,” said his spokeswoman, Esme Chandlee.

Wells, who co-sponsored a pre-primary breakfast for Dukakis in 1988, is so far “uncommitted,” his secretary said.

A longtime Democrat who has shown interest in Perot but has not endorsed him is theater producer and feminist activist Peg Yorkin, who traveled to his Irvine rally last month in order to meet him and propose that he name Faye Wattleton, former president of Planned Parenthood of America, as his running mate.

Perot was noncommittal about that suggestion but otherwise quite willing to listen to her concerns, said Yorkin, who gave $10 million last year to the Feminist Majority Foundation.

While many Democrats in Hollywood are either bowing out of the presidential race or agonizing over it, President Bush continues to enjoy the backing of a familiar roster of conservative celebrities, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris and Pat Boone. Recent criticism of Hollywood by both Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle have apparently done nothing to diminish that support.