BOSTON -- What a difference an election makes.

Four years ago when Democrats gathered at the Staples Center in Hollywood's backyard they held the entertainment industry at arms length. Both candidates were long-term critics of Hollywood fare and then Vice President Al Gore listed "protecting your children from entertainment that you think glorifies violence and indecency" as a priority when he accepted the nomination for president.

This year the tone is different. That arms-length relationship has become much closer. Hollywood celebrities, musicians and entertainers have once again become part of the socio-political whirl as a series of musicians took to the Fleet Center stage this year, and the hottest tickets in town were for a parties sponsored by the Creative Coalition and the RIAA and entertainment companies like News Corp. and Time Warner.

Ben Affleck, whose hometown is Boston, has been an ubiquitous presence, but the star power didn't stop with him. Bono, Alec Baldwin, Rob Reiner, Janeane Garofalo and rapper P. Diddy are among those who spent at least some time here this week. Top-level executives also attended the convention; there was a Harvey Weinstein sighting, and News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin hosted an event at Fenway Park.

Outgoing MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti emceed an event for veterans, and his successor, former Democratic congressman and agriculture secretary Dan Glickman, also pressed the flesh.

Sen. John Kerry turned to Hollywood for his convention biopic as he tapped Academy Award winner James Moll to make the film, and Don Mischer, who has overseen everything from Olympic ceremonies to a Barbra Streisand concert, was the convention's executive producer.

"It's a different time with different people," said one entertainment industry executive. "It's not that they (Democrats) are taking us to their breast, but people in the industry can be useful. Face it, this is an important election, and people in the industry want to make a difference."

Other executives who were in Los Angeles in 2000 and attended the 2004 convention here expressed similar feelings.

"Oh yeah, there's a different mood," said one as the Creative Coalition bash at the tony Louis Boston was breaking up. "There's a warmer feeling toward us."

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Allison Dobson dismissed the notion that the campaign was actively recruiting entertainment industry people for this year's convention.

"This is a very diverse convention," she said. "People come to it from all walks of life, and some of them happen to be from the entertainment industry."

Openly embracing the entertainment industry carries some risk. It opens up the candidates and the party to a certain amount of ridicule as many conservative political operatives love to paint entertainers as out-of-touch bubbleheads. But that kind of Hollywood bashing becomes more difficult when one of the GOP's new stars, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and one of the party's most revered figures, the late President Ronald Reagan, both had successful Hollywood careers, something Affleck pointed out to reporters.

Affleck admitted, however, that the Hollywood hand could be overplayed, saying there is "always some danger of overexposure."

"You have to know your place," he added. "Star power may hurt, but it can help too," he said. "A big-name celebrity can highlight the importance of a cause, and since most successful celebrities are rich and have rich friends, they can bring in cash.

"Our biggest contribution is our fund-raising power, frankly," he said. "There is a kind of fund-raising celebrities can do, and they don't later ask for tax breaks."

And Hollywood has been generous to the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' latest examination of presidential fund-raising, the TV, movie and music industries rank ninth on the list of big givers, forking over $1.8 million to Kerry and just over $1 million to vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards' Leadership political action committee and $278,275 to his campaign.

Hollywood has also contributed to the new third-party funds, known as 527s for the section of the tax code under which they are incorporated. Most 527s are advocacy groups trying to influence federal elections through voter mobilization and so-called issue ads that tout or criticize a candidate's record.

Democratic-leaning 527s have been the most active with MoveOn.org, the Joint Victory Campaign 2004 and Americans for Progress & Opportunity.

Steven Bing, Shangri-La Entertainment chief, is the third biggest contributor to 527s, giving slightly more than $8 million to the groups, according to the CRP. Marcy Carsey, co-owner of TV production powerhouse Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, ranks No. 11, giving $1 million.

Despite the money contributed by the industry, Affleck contends that such star power won't blind Kerry, telling reporters: "He's not a guy who will let Hollywood run over him roughshod."