Hollywood ? The rock group The Eagles were in Washington, D.C., last month to play a benefit when an unlikely visitor came knocking at their suite at the Four Seasons hotel: Wesley K. Clark.

The rockers, who perform such ’70s anthems as “Hotel California,” grilled the retired four-star general and newly minted presidential candidate about his politics, and liked what they heard. So much that they agreed to headline a benefit concert Sunday at Morton’s, the swank locale of the annual Vanity Fair party.

It’s the first of the Hollywood candidate bashes to feature a performance by a big-name talent. Many in the entertainment community are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

“We’ve had conversations with a lot of young and very talented big name performers who say, ‘We love the general,’ ” said Jordan Kerner, a producer who is co-chairing the concert. ‘We just want to see what happens in 10 more states.'”

Despite the ardent courtship by Democrats to secure L.A. pocketbooks and sizzle power, Hollywood’s heart remains unclaimed. Fund raising has progressed at a slower pace, and activists must work harder for their dollars. Soft money — the unlimited contributions that Hollywood used to shell out primarily for the Democratic Party and its committees rather than directly to candidates — is now banned under new campaign laws.

With Arnold Schwarzenegger recently elected to the governor’s seat, Republicans are emerging in this famously liberal community. So far, they’ve scooped up a third of Hollywood dollars.

And President Bush has raised the most money of any candidate, garnering $514,675 from people in the entertainment industry as of Sept. 30, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.

Former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont is close behind, with $513,846, coming from a range of celebrities. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has picked up donations from Jerry Seinfeld, and Bette Midler, while U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri has gained the financial backing of Barry Diller, “Friends” co-creator Marta Kauffman, and Chevy Chase.

Campaign records do not yet reflect the impact of Clark, who entered the race in September. But among those coming to his aide were Norman Lear and his wife, Lyn Davis Lear.

Dean and Clark have evoked certain passions in Hollywood for their outsider status and critiques of the war in Iraq. And lately, the general, who has been meeting with Hollywood moguls like Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, has sparked interest.

“The war is an enormous issue here,” said Dan Adler, a Creative Artists Agency agent-turned-venture capitalist and Clark supporter.

“In the case of most of the beltway candidates (Gephardt, Kerry, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut), they voted for the war. There are a number of us who have felt very passionately since before the war that it’s a mistake.”

Still, money isn’t exactly flowing out of Hollywood these days.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the entertainment industry ranked as No. 7 among the most generous industries in the 2000 election. But it has dropped to No. 10 in the 2004 cycle, edged out by the lobbyists, the insurance industry, and commercial banks.

By the end of the third quarter, Sept. 30, the industry had doled out $6.1 million for political candidates, a paltry sum compared to the $38.9 million shelled out by lawyers.

Matches made in political heaven: Candidates report big contributions from big names in Hollywood

President Bush

$2,000

Chuck Norris, actor

Dino De Laurentiis, producer

Lili Zanuck, producer/director

Jami Gertz, actor

$1,000

Ben Stein, writer-actor

Carol Moseley Braun

$2,000

Quincy Jones,

producer

Peg Yorkin, producer

$1,000

Berry Gordy, chairman West Grand Media

Wesley Clark

$2,000

Mary Steenburgen, actress

Alan Alda, actor

Lauren Shuler-Donner, producer

Alan Ladd, producer

Steven Bochco, writer/producer

Richard Donner, director

Margaret Loyd Langley, T.V./film producer

$250

Nora Ephron, writer/director

Howard Dean

$2,000

Christopher Guest, director

Norman Lear, producer

Bradley Whitford, actor

Diane English-Shukovsky, writer-producer

Helen Hunt, actor

Rene Russo, actor

$1,000

Tony Shalhoub, actor

Paul Newman, actor

Sen. John Edwards

$2,000

Adam Venit, talent agent

Norman Brokaw, chairman William Morris Agency

Armyan Bernstein, producer

$1,000

Robert Stein, talent agent

Patrick Wachsberger, president/CEO of Summit Entertainment

Richard Gephardt

$2,000

Judith Light, actor

Marlo Thomas, actor

Jack Valenti, president, Motion Picture Association of America

Barry Diller, CEO of InterActive Corp.

Melissa Gilbert, actor

Richard Lovett, CAA agent

Michael Mann, director

Frank Marshall, director

Chevy Chase, actor

John Kerry

$2,000

Jamie Lee Curtis, actor

Michael J. Fox, actor

Sherry Lansing, chairman Paramount Motion Picture Group

Penny Marshall, director

Bette Midler, actor

Jerry Seinfeld, actor

Jack Valenti, head of MPAA

$1,000

Ron Meyer, president, Vivendi Universal Entertainment

Barry Meyer, CEO, Warner Bros.

Dennis J. Kucinich

$2,000

Edward Norton, actor

Summer Phoenix, actor

$1,000

Jeff Bridges, actor

$500

Larry Hagman, actor

Peter Coyote, actor/writer

$375

Eric Roberts

Joe Lieberman

$2,000

Debra Messing, actor

Thomas Barad, producer

Jerry Stiller, actor

$1000

Norman Pattiz, founder Westwood One

Haim Saban, owner Saban Entertainment

Kenneth Cole, president Kenneth Cole Inc.

David Kohan, creator “Will & Grace”

The Rev. Al Sharpton

$2,000

Steve Harvey, comedian

Robert Johnson, president/founder BET Cable

Antonio M. Reid, CEO/president Arista Records

$1,000

Barbra Streisand, actor