Now that the primary circus has left town you’d think that the candidates would be done with California, wouldn’t you? For the most part, they are, but Joe Biden was out in Los Angeles yesterday on some very important business. Hollywood’s glitterati were eager to open up their wallets and shower money on the new frontrunner and Uncle Joe couldn’t disappoint them. Former Paramount Pictures honcho Sherry Lansing had arranged a fundraiser for Joe at her mansion prior to Tuesday’s voting, but she’d been having trouble filling the seats. But once the polls had closed and Biden had been anointed as the new Great Hope to defeat the Bad Orange Man, attendance to her shindig more than quadrupled and she was actually forced to turn people away. (Washington Times)

A fundraiser for Joe Biden at the Los Angeles home of Paramount Pictures executive Sherry Lansing mushroomed from 80 to 350 attendees in the days after the South Carolina primary.

Biden addressed the crowd Wednesday in Lansing’s backyard outside her mansion in Bel Air.

Lansing said she had to turn interested donors away after Biden’s strong showing in Tuesday night’s primary. “It was a deluge,” she said.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, tickets to the gala ranged from $1,000 to $2,800, depending on how much access to the candidate you wanted. The list of notable attendees was as long as your arm, with Leonardo Dicaprio being one of the bigger names.

Biden attended with his wife. Or maybe it was his sister. It’s so hard to tell these days. Joe’s speech was the usual stuff we’ve grown used to this week, talking about how everyone said his campaign was “dead” but now it’s very much “alive.”

A couple of things about this story stood out to me beyond the usual notion of a politician snuggling up to the rich and famous to pry some cash out of them. First of all, when did all of these Hollywood power brokers fall in line behind Biden? I seem to recall as little as five weeks ago that many of these same people were out on the trail acting as surrogates for Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar? I guess when it comes down to brass tacks, Hollywood’s elites are ready to fall in line with anything that advances the interests of the Democrats. In some ways, they’re more homogenous than the DNC itself.

The other aspect of this story that lands with a bit of a dull thud is the nauseating optics on display. Every one of the Democratic candidates has promised that they are running as a champion for “the people.” You know… the little guys out there who are struggling to make ends meet. But as soon as Joe begins looking like he might indeed be the inevitable nominee, he takes a private jet out to a mansion in LaLaLand and starts slurping champagne with Leo Dicaprio and his pals?

The only other notable news from the fundraiser was Biden’s announcement that he’s going to be getting Secret Service protection soon. This is, according to Joe, a result of that protester who rushed the stage on Tuesday night and had to be tackled by Jill Biden. Uncle Joe said that the Secret Service was “afraid Jill’s going to hurt someone.”

Thank you. Thank you. He’ll be here all week. Try the veal.