Casting call

GUESS who's been making the political rounds in Hollywood recently?

Not just Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, though she's made two major fundraising trips to Los Angeles in the last six months. Or Al Gore. (Though he's a frequent visitor.)

Try Sen. John F. Kerry.

Followed by Howard Dean.

Followed by Sen. John McCain.

And this week, it's Andrew Cuomo (2016, anyone?), before Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. drops by.

While the political world's attention has been focused most recently on the travails of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove and the Bush administration -- not to mention a bruising California special election called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Los Angeles has been humming along in one of its favorite roles: early-bird talent scout looking over a steady parade of politicians here to court Hollywood's most influential Democratic fundraisers.

"Los Angeles is like the Iowa caucus of the fundraising scene," said campaign strategist Bill Carrick. "Even people who say they're opposed to Hollywood values are out here raising money."

So three years before a presidential election, and without a single declared major candidate in sight, the West Coast pre-pre-primaries have already begun.

Some politicians arrive quietly, with Secret Service in tow and their schedules kept under wraps by tight-lipped aides. Others come in service of a cause (Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat, appeared at an anti-Proposition 75 rally with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last month).

On a recent balmy Friday evening, Clinton -- raising money for her 2006 reelection campaign -- mingled with Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen at the Women's Foundation of California gala benefit in Beverly Hills. Afterward, she headed to Rob Reiner's Brentwood home, where she stood before a sold-out audience of 150 people, each paying at least $500 to hear the New York Democrat speak in the director's comfortable screening room.

The next day, she was at a private brunch, with about 75 people, at "American Beauty" producer Bruce Cohen's ultramodern Lloyd Wright house off Hollywood Boulevard. From there, she headed to Hancock Park for a 1 p.m. lunch, an event co-sponsored by Barbra Streisand, Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito.