ctmpphpmu8mns.jpgHere we go again.

The LA Times has a feature on Hollywood’s Money Palaces, which they compare to “Versailles,” and how Presidential candidates are raking in contributions from wealthy Tinseltown donors. All that’s missing are tales of naked vixens diving to the bottom of champagne-filled swimming pools for pearls.

Let’s have a look at who this list includes:

. Billionare Ron Burkle and his “stunning Green Acres estate” where benefits bring in $1 million a pop for the Clintons
. Rob Reiner’s Brentwood home, “sacred grounds for the ghosts of Hollywood liberals.“
. Norman Lear, “a prolific donor to Democratic candidates, is constantly hosting parties.”
. Arianna Huffington, who “runs Hollywood’s hottest salon” (and is the anti-war proprietress of the Huffington Post, so we know where she stands — cough)
. Bruce Cohen, “a serious Democratic fundraiser and longtime Hillary Clinton supporter.”
. Haim Saban, who “rallied Hollywood’s Democrats there at a fundraiser for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

Gee. What conclusion am I supposed to draw here? What’s left out? Thinking…thinking…

Oh, now I remember:

When Rudolph Giuliani raised money in Brentwood on Monday night, there were few, if any, jokes about the plight of Republicans in Hollywood, and no apologies for anyone being there.

And that in itself gives some longtime GOPers in the industry hope. After years in the political wilderness, where they have felt all but marginalized in an era of strident, anti-Bush rhetoric, they are encouraged by the candidacy of Giuliani and of John McCain.

[]

But despite the perception that Hollywood is a predominantly liberal industry, the actual figures show that it isn’t so lopsided. In the past couple of election cycles, approximately one-third of entertainment industry money went to Republican candidates. Even Bush collected $1.4 million from entertainment sources in 2004 to John Kerry’s $3.5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

That’s a sum significant enough to create a dash for donors among the Giuliani and McCain camps. Each has been laying the groundwork for support of well-known industry figures for quite some time, even if their fund-raising in entertainment circles isn’t at the same breakneck pace of their Democratic counterparts.

McCain has long had ties to Hollywood, where through the years even liberals have been intrigued by his maverick status, even if they are not supporting him in the race. Two years ago, McCain and Murphy lunched at the Grill with Warren Beatty.

[]

MGM chief exec Harry Sloan, a member of McCain’s national finance committee, hosted a fund-raiser for the Arizona senator in January. Univision’s Jerry Perenchio is one of McCain’s national co-chairs. And on March 13, McCain is scheduled to visit Hollywood again at a $1,000-per-person luncheon at the Beverly Hilton.

Giuliani, meanwhile, attracted a crowd of more than 150 people at a fund-raiser at the home of former Ambassador Rockwell Schnabel and his wife, Marna. It was not an industry-centric fund-raiser on par with Obama’s star-studded Beverly Hilton event two weeks ago, but it did draw such names as Gary Sinise, attorney Bruce Ramer, Bernie Brillstein, Dyan Cannon and writer-director Lionel Chetwynd.

“He’s a very authentic leader, and I believe there will be a lot of Republicans, Democrats and independents who will vote for him,” says Brillstein-Grey CEO Jon Liebman, one of the co-chairs of the event. Liebman, a former assistant U.S. attorney, worked for Giuliani.

I’m sure leaving out the fact that people like Adam Sandler and Kelsey Grammar have given money to Giuliani, or that he has been endorsed by Robert DuVall, was sheer oversight on the part of the LA Times and not an attempt to paint Democrats as monied, Hollywood liberal elites.

Here’s the dirty little secret — Hollywood isn’t really liberal. As a community it has strong and large conservative strains, particularly at the top of the business side where all the strings get pulled (see: Murdoch, Rupert). The reason Hollywood conservatives like to bitch about being persecuted is because victimology is part of the whole right-wing shtick, not because Joel Surnow actually suffers for his political beliefs. I mean, does anyone think that The 1/2 Hour News Hour was anything other than a wingnut welfare operation?

I guess “balance” is only something you do to make sure right-wing talking points make their way into an otherwise reality-based article.

Well played, LA Times.

(photo by Pete Reed)

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