Enthusiasm on parade for Kerry

Just because you’ve dropped a few grand on a party for a presidential candidate doesn’t mean you’re an unvarnished supporter. Take Kevin Costner, who was milling in the $1,000-per-ticket crowd at Tuesday’s giant Beverly Hills fundraiser for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John F. Kerry.

Asked if he planned to vote for Kerry, Costner said: “That’s kind of a private process, isn’t it? Don’t you want to hear every last piece of information? Don’t you want to hear every pin drop before you make a decision?”

On the other hand, Larry David of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was more enthusiastic. “You’ll notice I’m limping,” he told the crowd, which had swelled to about 2,000. “You gotta be a little bit careful when you jump on that bandwagon.”

During an eight-minute routine, David indulged in one of Hollywood’s favorite sports, Bush bashing, and explained why he’d make a good running mate for the Massachusetts senator: “I know it sounds a little crazy on its face. Why would he consider a bald, tactless, dishonest -- and, dare I say, Jew -- to be his running mate? But ... think about this: Out of all the other potential candidates, I am the only one who offsets Bush and balances out the ticket ... because whatever qualities [Bush] has that people find appealing, I have those same qualities in spades.”

David said his own qualities included being a “nincompoop,” a “coward,” a “liar” and a mediocre student. “Go ahead, ask me who’s the president of Japan? I don’t know. Ask me what was in the newspaper today. Don’t know.... Ask me what foreign countries I’ve been to. None!”

The president, said David, “avoided Vietnam by going into the Air National Guard. I avoided it by going into the Army Reserve.... He couldn’t out-chicken me. My cowardice is legendary. And I’m homophobic to boot! Don’t tell me that’s not gonna swing some voters.”

When Kerry took the stage at Ron Burkle’s hillside mansion, he thanked David: “You are qualified to be a Republican. Tonight, rest assured, you did absolutely nothing to change my mind about you and the vice presidency.”

Mingling among the high-wattage names was a large contingent of mostly anonymous trial lawyers, many originally supporters of Sen. John Edwards, the North Carolina trial lawyer who dropped out of the race early last month. The singer James Taylor, in his preface to the song “Carolina in My Mind,” joked that he wasn’t making a statement about who the vice presidential pick should be.

Guests began leaving long before the end of the night. Barbra Streisand and James Brolin clambered into their SUV even before the program began. Others drifted out, only to be confronted with long waits for the shuttle back to their cars.

“If they can’t run a party that’s going to make millions of dollars,” huffed one guest, “how can we expect them to run the White House?”

Times staff writer James Rainey contributed to this report.