The American Spectator

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It is unclear whether that total includes the $1 million or so that will go to the DNC for its role in the events.

While the San Francisco event pulled in close to $2 million, the two high-wattage events were in San Diego and L.A., where supermarket magnate Ron Burkle opened two of his homes for Kerry cash-a-thons.

The menus at both events were decidedly California chic, with lots of pan-Asian fare and Mediterranean touches: glazed salmon, tandoori lamb chops, curried chicken, hors d’ouevres, vegan salads, and lots and lots of Chardonnay. And, in Beverly Hills, lots of celebrities.

Kerry wandered the grounds of Burkle’s estate, shaking hands with most of the celebs in attendance, seeming at ease with the fact that almost all of them had contributed the maximum to either Howard Dean or Wesley Clark before jumping on his bandwagon after the fact. In Hollywood, after all, only the happy ending matters.

“It was like a lot of the Clinton and Gore parties. You had Oliver Stone [conspiracy theorist] there, Don Henley [musician], Barbra Streisand [blogger], and Mary Steenburgen [Arkansas FOB], all the usuals,” says a DNC fundraiser. “In the end these folks don’t care who the nominee is, just so long as it’s not Bush in the White House.”

p>They also, apparently, have little interest in anything more current than the 1970s. Along with the list of has-beens in attendance, they listened to the soulful strummings of Clinton-fave crooner James Taylor , who seems to have found currency for one of his songs: after performing “Carolina on My Mind” he told the audience that it had little to do with Sen. John Edwards . br> /p>