Hollywood Goes to War - Against Bush
Hollywood Democrats organize, drawing howls from neocons who fear Tinseltown's bully pulpit
By Ed Rampell
During World War II, Hollywood threw in behind the war effort, with stars like Jimmy Stewart enlisting, studios shooting morale boosters such as Casablanca, and starlets dancing with G.I.s at the Hollywood Canteen. With the zeal of Frank Capra's Why We Fight documentaries, today's entertainment industry is going to war again - this time, against the Bush administration. "We're up against the end of democracy as we know it," warned Ilene Proctor, a publicist who attended a December 2 strategy session at the Beverly Hilton. The invitation-only powwow attended by about 300 Hollywood liberals was ballyhooed and badmouthed as a "Hate Bush" bash by conservative media.
At a news conference, event hostess Laurie David - an environmentalist married to Seinfeld co-creator/HBO comic Larry David - thanked Internet gossip Matt Drudge for "helping turn a small gathering of political activists into a very large gathering of political activists. Now, that's grass-roots networking."
Ellen Malcolm, president of America Coming Together (ACT), added, "We've already moved the event from one [Hilton] room to a larger room. We've gotten so much response we're turning people away." In an interview, producer/director Robert Greenwald (Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War) observed, "As soon as the right wing started attacking, everyone wanted to be there."
According to the November 30 Drudge Report, "Laurie David sent out invites to the meeting at the Hilton with the bold heading: 'Hate Bush 12/2 - Event.'" The online item moved conservative jocks into drivel overdrive. Fox's Bill O'Reilly debated The Nation editor Katrina Vanden Heuvel about the meeting, threatening to shut off her microphone. Rush Limbaugh derided the gathering of "Left Coast Hollywood kooks." Meeting co-host Greenwald battled Media Research Center President Brent Bozell and co-anchor Robert Novak on CNN's Crossfire.
Of course, you just couldn't pay for this kind of attention to a meeting - especially one closed to media. The right wing even showed up to protest. Across Wilshire Boulevard, about 35 noisy pro-Bushies waved American flags and "I [heart] W." placards, during the confab.
But at the press conference, David insisted the "piece that ran in The Drudge Report was completely inaccurate in its characterization of this meeting, and was total misrepresentation ... . I never, ever used the words 'Hate Bush.' This is a result of what happens with the Internet. I [e-mailed] the invitation to a small group of friends and colleagues. They sent it out to other people, who sent it out to other[s] ... . Someone, somewhere - apparently not even from L.A. - decided to tag it 'Hate Bush,' and it was picked up by The Drudge Report." (Drudge printed some of David's comments December 3.)
Media Fund President Harold Ickes, once President Clinton's deputy chief of staff, asserted: "We do not hate George Bush. We do not like his policies. We hope to find gainful employment for him in another line of work in 2005."
Actor Ed Asner stated, "This was a terrible misnomer. There was no 'Hate Bush' going on there. It was strictly a cold-blooded evening designed to win for Democrats, with no strong polemics against Bush or the Republicans. I was uplifted by its objectivity and lack of rancor, and enormous preparedness."
Malcolm, who's been president of the feminist fundraiser Emily's List, said ACT and the Media Fund hope to raise "$190 million; we've raised upwards of $40 million." She called ACT "a political action committee to turn [voters] out" in 17 battleground states. "There's a tremendous energy and enthusiasm from people who want to know what can be done in the 2004 elections. We're talking about a strategy. Republicans now are moving the country really to a radical agenda, and trying to turn back the clock. In the last election, 60 percent of eligible adults did not vote. Politics wasn't talking to them," observed Malcolm, who hopes to "re-ignite our democracy and bring those people back into the political process."
This organizing/fundraising drive bears the mark of Soros: According to Margery Tabankin - executive director of Spielberg and Streisand foundations - anti-Bush billionaire philanthropist George Soros "gave $10 million to ACT."
Ickes said, "Our purpose is to raise money to produce and run TV and radio commercials starting next year to talk about the Democratic message and the importance of Democrats winning across the country."
Referring to a nonprofit tax designation for political organizations, Malcolm said, "The Media Fund is a 527. Both organizations are raising money from a whole host of members across the country. We're reporting all our expenses and contributions to the appropriate legal authority, the Internal Revenue Service or the Federal Election Commission."
On a point of contention, Ickes denied using a "loophole" and argued, "There's been some misconception, started by others, that we are evading the McCain-Feingold law. Our lawyers advised us on structuring these organizations. They're permitted to raise contributions from individuals, unions, and corporations. We're operating in very strict compliance with the law. Any rumors to the contrary are completely erroneous," the Washington lobbyist asserted.
ACT CEO Steve Rosenthal added that running unopposed in primaries, Bush "will raise $600 million. Until there are changes in the campaign finance laws. We have to make sure there's a message out there."
After the press conference, David, Malcolm, Ickes, and Rosenthal moved to a larger Hilton venue to the strategy session, which was closed to the press. Attendees reportedly included Donna Mills, Rob Reiner, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Earl Katz, Christine Lahti, Mike Farrell, and Larry David. Asner called it "a fantastic event, packed to the gills. The panel's [PowerPoint] presentation showed various graphics showing the narrow edge in target states - how they were lost or won, and can be retained or regained without great effort. How important it is to get out the vote. It also showed very promising recent polling showing where any Democrat stood against Bush. There was no hyperbole - it was straight facts as to how the plan was to progress, with appropriate funding, They had envelopes to contribute - I have mine and plan to."
Artists United co-founder Greenwald called it "One of the best organizing meetings I've ever been to. They talked about a very organized plan - no matter who the candidate is - to work to raise money, and work very hard to get major turnout in '04 by a long-running sustained organizing campaign. The plan got a standing ovation." Proctor dubbed the meeting "sensational," and added, "Ickes spoke about electronic voter fraud."
Conservatives were alarmed because they fear Hollywood's star power, fundraising capacity, and ability to creatively communicate to millions.
Asner, who's campaigning for Rep. Dennis Kucinich, said Hollywood progressives "should get in and participate, not sit back on their haunches." Greenwald urged activist artists to "work our asses off in every way we can to help defeat Bush and elect Democrats nationwide. All the skills people have will be available to defeating this radical rightwing takeover of our country."Published: 12/11/2003
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