PLAYING POLITICS CONGA ROOM BASH LAUNCHES THE FUN.

Byline: Heather MacDonald and Erik Nelson Staff Writers

They don't call it the Democratic Party for nothing.

Parties were the order of the day - and night - across Los Angeles on Saturday as delegates, media members, a host of special-interest groups and, of course, Bill and Hillary Clinton hit the party circuits.

The nomination of Vice President Al Gore to the presidential ticket can wait until the workweek; this weekend is all about the parties.

It was a typical Saturday night at the Conga Room in the Hollywood area except for the massive plastic credentials around everyone's necks.

About 1,000 delegates, staffers, committee members and hangers-on kicked off a week's worth of parties by packing the Conga Room to honor the Democratic Party's national chairman, Joe Andrew.

Arriving in limos, SUVs, taxis and coach buses, the delegates and other guests noshed on black beans and rice under bamboo chandeliers and sucked down bottle after bottle of Corona beer.

``This is so L.A.,'' said Mary Rivera, 30, of Albany, N.Y., as she walked down the red carpet on Wilshire Boulevard dressed in head-to-toe black.

With several Democratic senators and other party bigwigs including Donna Brazile, Al Gore's campaign manager, the Conga Room party was the first taste of L.A. at night for many Democrats.

``It's just as trendy as I thought it would be,'' said Matthew Bingham, 25, of Ames, Iowa.

The Democrats were entertained by salsa dancers dressed in glittering pink and green Spandex outfits, but none joined in - at least at first.

``I'll need to get a little sloshed first,'' said Andrew Wert, 66, of Darien, Conn.

President Clinton commanded the top Dem parties Saturday night. He canceled television interviews during the day after Al Gore's campaign complained that the president was overshadowing Gore's message.

The president instead played golf with Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic convention chairman.

And their course of choice was one of Riordan's favorites: the newly rebuilt Rancho Park Municipal Course on the West Side.

Saturday evening's fund-raiser - a private, invitation-only affair - featured a large cast of Hollywood elite and was expected to yield $1 million for the first lady's New York Senate race.

Tickets ranged from $1,000 to $25,000 for the concert and dinner, where the performers included Michael Bolton, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Melissa Etheridge, Patti LaBelle and Luther Vandross. Speakers included Ted Danson, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Smits, John Travolta and, at the top of the marquee, the Clintons.

A crowd estimated at more than 15,000 turned out for the night's biggest party, rocking elbow-to-elbow as Patti LaBelle and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy entertained visiting journalists.

The media party at the Department of Water and Power plaza, with a price tag of some $1.5 million, included flourishes both large and small - with some local boosterism thrown in.

Towering colorful images were projected on nearby buildings around the plaza, while fortune cookies were offered to guests who discovered the following message inside:

``Your good fortune begins in Los Angeles.''

``Los Angeles, birthplace of the fortune cookie.''

Dave Thomas, a television reporter from Modesto, gave the party a nod of approval.

``This exceeded my expectations. The band, the food, and everyone just very friendly,'' Thomas said. ``But I will admit I've never seen so many police officers as I've seen.''

Former Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez, now president and chief executive of the L.A. Convention 2000 host committee, once again had to pick up the slack for his honor, the mayor, at a Service to the Environment Recognition lunch at L.A. Center Studio on Saturday.

While Riordan putted around with fellow lame duck Bill Clinton at Rancho Park, Rodriguez was apologizing to General Motors and United Auto Workers officials and a group of elementary school kids, teachers and parents for the no-show.

The good news at the mayor-less event was the food, with freshly carved steak and chicken fajitas, hot dogs and veggie burgers on the buffet. Clinton, who had hijacked the mayor, obviously didn't know about the ice cream buffet, or he would have been there, too.

With the media clamoring for a story that wasn't, it was a good time for caterers from Along Came Mary to set the record straight.

``This company has never, ever, run out of food,'' said ACM General Manager Erick Weiss, still smarting from reports in People magazine and other media outlets that guests went hungry at Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's wedding.

Even as he spoke, the dessert bar inside had been reduced to strawberry and chocolate.

``This is the kind of event that celebrates what L.A. is all about,'' Rodriguez told the crowd of 500 or so at L.A. Center Studio, many of them UAW members and GM employees touting their joint employee services projects. She was talking about community and diversity, but Rodriguez was correct nonetheless.

The event was about cars. On the way up the red carpet, kids got their photos taken inside a NASCAR racer once driven by Jeff Gordon. There was also the movie-prop Batmobile, which could loosely be described as a fully loaded $200,000 Oldsmobile Cutlass. And a GMC Yukon that, it appears from the display inside the studio, runs on ground-up corn.

USA Today photographer Chris McCaffrey, 26, of Washington D.C., wasn't calculating the bill Friday night when he and co-workers hit L.A.'s club scene with a vengeance, going from Dresden to the Roxy and a half-dozen other bars.

``It's going to be a long week,'' he said. ``I knew this was going to be my only night to ride a mechanized bull in Los Angeles.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Joe Andrew, national chairman of the Democratic Party, arrives at a welcoming party in his honor at the Conga Room in West L.A. on Saturday night.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2) Bryan Yamami, right, and Charles Kellogg beat taiko drums at Saturday's downtown bash.

(3) Marilyn Payne, left, and Suezett Moore get in the party spirit downtown.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer