California shells out for Biden, Harris in virtual Hollywood fund-raisers

United States Senator Kamala Harris (bottom row, extreme left) with the cast and directors of Marvel’s Avengers superhero films on Tuesday last week. PHOTO: KAMALAHARRIS/TWITTER

LOS ANGELES • United States presidential candidate Joe Biden shared a split-screen with actor George Clooney. Mr Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, joined an online quiz with the Marvel superhero film stars.

Hollywood's virtual fund-raisers with Democratic leaders have combined with powerful sentiment against US President Donald Trump to prompt an unprecedented flood of donations in California - the nation's wealthiest state, long seen as the party's election cash cow.

As the race for the White House reaches its blockbuster finale, both campaigns are mounting breakneck tours of swing states. They are notably absent in the liberal Golden State, where Mr Biden leads Mr Trump by more than 30 points.

But while Californians cannot sway the race by voting, Democratic insiders say they have never witnessed such an extraordinary boom in fund-raising and celebrity activism - even as a deadly pandemic pushes events online.

"It's been unbelievable. My inbox is filled with e-mails every day from various entertainment industry people - the business side, the creative side, all over... music, movies, television, everything," said Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist Bill Carrick.

Stars - including the casts of TV shows Seinfeld, Happy Days and The West Wing - held online reunions. "Co-chair" tickets for a Hillary Clinton talk hosted online by comedian Amy Schumer amounted to US$50,000 (S$68,000).

Tickets to a virtual live reading of 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer last week with Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and other stars of the movie were priced from US$50 each.

"The pandemic created the virtual fund-raiser on Zoom, primarily, and those are wildly successful," said Mr Carrick. "All those kinds of things have really exploded."

Sacramento-based strategist Steven Maviglio believes California Democratic fund-raising dollars are "almost double" what they were four years ago - a high baseline, given then Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's strong support in 2016.

California "has always been viewed as a sort of ATM", he added. "But this year, the candidates really haven't come here much to do in-person events. The money's coming to them."

The state is the biggest contributor to Mr Biden's war chest.

The US$150 million which Mr Biden has raised in California is a fifth of his candidate committee total, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).

US Federal Election Commission records show California donations to Mr Biden totalling a slightly smaller US$130 million, reflecting the complex nature of campaign financing.

But both figures dwarf the US$60-odd million Mr Trump has collected in the state.

Mr Biden is aided by strong Hollywood contacts he forged as senator and vice-president - he appeared on stage at the Oscars in 2016.

Director Steven Spielberg (US$5.1 million) and actor-producer Seth MacFarlane (US$3.6 million) are among the top individual Democratic donors this year, according to CRP data.

Many strategists say virtual events have made the essential process of harvesting dollars easier. Celebrities are spared from dressing up, shaking hundreds of hands and battling notorious traffic. So are wealthy, busy donors.

Hollywood is seen as overwhelmingly liberal and 88 per cent of the entertainment industry's US$110 million donations went to Democrats this year, according to the CRP.

But its executives have a long history of donating to Republicans, from MGM's Louis Mayer in the 1920s to former US president Ronald Reagan's extensive show business network.

Still, politicos on both sides said big entertainment industry donations for Mr Trump were down, with the President skipping Los Angeles on a recent California fund-raising dash hosted by 28-year-old tech multi-millionaire Palmer Luckey.

"In the entertainment business, in particular, Trump's just toxic," said Mr Carrick.

Conservative fund-raiser Anne Dunsmore suggested this year's Black Lives Matter protests boosted Democratic donations from Hollywood, while "other corporations that might have played on the Republican side are more reticent".

"It may be possible in individual cases," said Mr Carrick. "But the most important thing is they just don't like Trump's politics."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 29, 2020, with the headline California shells out for Biden, Harris in virtual Hollywood fund-raisers. Subscribe