DENVER - Jennifer Lopez is headed to town. So are George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron. Not to mention Ben Affleck, Spike Lee, Annette Bening, Susan Sarandon, Kanye West, Anne Hathaway and Ellen Burstyn.
The Democratic National Convention is officially under way and it's drawing as many A-list celebrities as the Toronto International Film Festival. They're in this Colorado city to promote Barack Obama as avidly as they work the red carpets to promote their latest projects.
Denver is Party Central this week, with more than 300 events being held across the city. Many of them will be attended by some of Hollywood's biggest names, with Lopez herself hosting one of the parties on Wednesday night at the city's art museum.
But what impact, if any, does the presence of stars have on a political campaign? John Kerry had Affleck, Dennis Hopper, Meryl Streep, P Diddy and other celebrities in his camp in 2004.
A star-studded salute to him and his running mate, the now-disgraced John Edwards, was held at New York City's Radio City Music Hall two months before the Democratic convention, featuring lots of off-colour jokes about Bush's intelligence or lack thereof.
But hobnobbing with Hollywood stars didn't do anything to propel Kerry to the White House, with some observers arguing at the time that his public cozying-up to the people many Americans consider vain and vacuous might have actually hurt him.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain certainly seems to think celebrity connections are detrimental to a candidate, and recently unveiled ads accusing Obama of being "the biggest celebrity in the world" -- as though such a thing was akin to being a wife-beater.
But Elaine Lui, a correspondent for CTV's "ETalk," says the presence of stars means nothing to a political campaign, though admits she finds it amusing that celebrities are arrogant enough to believe their stated party preference could sway anyone's opinion come election day.
"I honestly couldn't care less who Scarlett Johansson is supporting or that she wants to marry Barack Obama ... I mean, get over yourself and show me your boobs, period," says Lui, who also blogs on celebrity antics at www.laineygossip.com.
"It's totally irrelevant. What Angelina Jolie says about who she's voting for isn't going to affect anyone. And that very irrelevancy proves that celebrities are just celebrities, nothing more, and that no one cares what they think, even though their narcissism might have them believing otherwise."
In fact, she says, vocally supporting a presidential candidate is likely more harmful to a celebrity's reputation than the politician's.
"They end up getting called out for their hypocrisy," she says. "How can you live the life you lead, a life of enormous riches, when whoever's in power isn't going to affect you in any way? Oprah is not dealing with the sub-prime crisis."
That isn't stopping Hollywood liberals from flooding into Denver to support their man this week. They'll be feted in venues separate from the Pepsi Center, most notably in what's been dubbed Starz Green Room, although neither Obama nor his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, are expected to show up.
Set up in a theatre across the street from the Pepsi Center, celebrities like Mortensen, Theron, Rosario Dawson and Josh Brolin will be on hand at the Starz Green Room to take in socially conscious films and discuss politics.
The hottest ticket in town, however, is the Google-Vanity Fair bash at the EXDO Event Center. It's so hot that organizers aren't releasing the names of the celebrity attendees, but Clooney is rumoured to be among them.
Musicians including Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and the Black-Eyed Peas are also in town at various venues to perform, while Melissa Etheridge is hosting the "Rock to Win" party that will be attended by numerous musicians, including Cyndi Lauper.
And there's also mystifying word of a party to honour Obama hosted by "Kennedy," though no one's sure which Kennedy.
Senator Ted Kennedy -- arguably the Democratic party's biggest and most beloved star -- has been battling brain cancer for months, and his niece, Caroline, was expected to pay tribute to him Monday night at the convention.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the 76-year-old Massachusetts senator is actually travelling to Denver and will appear at the convention, though he won't speak.
