Lost in the hubbub over Hurricane Gustaf, party leaders’ phone-ins and Republican preganancy rates is what should have been a triumphal return by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger to the Nicollet Island Park Pavilion in Minneapolis, where last night his state’s delegation held a late-night party under twinkling red, white and blue lights.

The pavilion — a former boiler works and rubber factory — together with its surrounding parkland grounds portrayed a granary and a dump, respectively, in Schwarzenegger’s 1996 film, “Jingle All the Way” (pictured above). Filming tied up the site for the better part of a winter, with Schwarzegger in his pre-politics days sometimes sighted marching down nearby lanes alongside his body double, both chomping cigars.

The film was not among the several Arnold flicks handed out gratis on DVD at last night’s event, according to a Los Angeles Times blog, which cites a bartender at the Nicollet Island Pavilion who noted the irony in that “Jingle” was filmed there. 

Talks over a state budget crunch kept Schwarzenegger in Sacramento this week, meaning he missed a scheduled RNC speaking slot as well as state delegation events like last night’s. Such details didn’t keep Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at home earlier this year, but then Pawlenty was nursing an ambition for an office — vice president — which Schwarzenegger can’t hope to attain under the U.S. Constitution’s current native-son requirement.

“It’s hard for me to be here,” Benoit told the crowd gathered for the New Orleans All-Star Jam-Balaya, an RNC-related $500/ticket benefit for the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort. “But the coast of Louisiana is washing away at the rate of an acre an hour, and we cannot just sit in neutral.”

Benoit headlined the event with his Voice of the Wetlands AllStars, an amalgamation of some of the cream of Louisiana musicians united for the cause that included Cyril Neville (vocals and percussion), Anders Osborne (guitar), George Porter Jr. (bass), Johnny Vidacovich (drums), Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone (harp and accordion), Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (vocals and tambourine), and Waylon Thibodeaux (fiddle).

But it didn’t stop there. Pile on outstanding performances by the Soul Rebels Brass Band, the Wild Tchoupotoulas Mardi Gras Indians, Donald Harrison Jr. (alto sax), Marcia Ball (piano), Leo Nocentelli (guitar), Big Sam Williams (trombone), Kirk Joseph (sousaphone), Henry Butler (piano), Amanda Shaw (fiddle), James Andrews (trumpet) and Marva Wright (vocals), and this thing looked like a day at the New Orleans Jazz Fest all on one stage.

The five-hour star-studded lineup of Louisiana musicians was sponsored by the Friends of New Orleans with the help of a host of lobbying and music groups, including the Tipitina’s Foundation. A similar event was held in Denver during the Democratic National Conventional.

In addition to the musical entertainment, attendees dined on complimentary seafood gumbo, red beans and rice with andouille sausage, barbecued shrimp, salad and bananas foster.

Even with the abundance of talent on stage, the Republican- and lobbyist-dominated crowd was reluctant to take to the dance floor—no more than 50 were out there at any one time—despite repeated urging from the musicians. A handful ventured out to get down with the Wild Tchoupotoulas, resplendent in their elaborate feather-and-bead costumes. And a couple of brief second-line parades erupted when the music proved too irresistible to sit still. By the end of the marathon evening, about the only ones left were media, musicians and other assorted music fans.

That didn’t stop the musicians on stage from tearing it up, though.

The Voice of the Wetlands, anchored by the precision rhythm section of Porter and Vidacovich, smoked through much of their fine release by the same name and were joined by the other musicians throughout their set.

The Soul Rebels opened, providing the accompaniment for the Wild Tchoupotoulas’ eye candy as they swirled and strutted about the room. Donald Harrison Jr. was joined by a band of talented New Orleans music students, Big Sam Williams and Cyril Neville in a wide-ranging set of jazz, blues and funk. Leo Nocentelli of the original Meters brought his trademark guitar pyrotechnics to the mix. Henry Butler and Marcia Ball took turns beating the ivory off the keys, with Ball also rendering an emotional take on Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927.” Young fiddle firebrand Amanda Shaw held her own with Cajun fiddle master Waylon Thibodeaux. And in the finale featuring almost everyone on stage, Marva Wright filled out the roster of guests with a taste of her big, powerful voice on the Neville Brothers’ arrangement of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

If RNC revelers had to party while Gustav raged, this was the place they could do it this week and still bring their conscience along.

Tab Benoit, left, Cyril Neville and Anders Osborne

Johnny Sansone (left), Donald Harrison Jr. and Tab Benoit

Cyril Neville

Leo Nocentelli

Republican consultant Mary Matalin watches the music from the stairs at First Avenue.

Anders Osborne, left, Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter and Marcia Ball

Tab Benoit and Cyril Neville

Johnny Vidacovich, left, Waylon Thibodeaux, George Porter and Marcia Ball

Wayne Thibodeaux

Some party-goers did a second line around the dance floor while the Soul Rebels blasted away on stage.

Donald Harrison and Big Sam Williams

Big Sam Williams, Donald Harrison and James Andrews

Marcia Ball and Dakota Bar & Grill owner Lowell Pickett chat it up on the dance floor.

In 2006, for example, the company donated $200,000 to the International Republican Institute, a Washington organization where McCain served as chairman of the board. This was the year that, not coincidentally, McCain was also chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, the group responsible for overseeing the telecom industry.

Yet AT&T has wormed its way into policy and campaign issues beyond just giving millions in coercive, soft-money donations to McCain’s campaign: A total of 12 of McCain’s campaign advisers and/or staff are either registered as lobbyists for or served as an executive of AT&T. His chief adviser, Charlie Black, is the former chairman of lobbying firm BKSH & Associates, which has represented AT&T for the last decade.

In the case of McCain, such close ties have paid off for the telecom giant: As a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee (he twice served as chairman), McCain voted to allow the AT&T merger in 2005, when SBC Communications bought AT&T for $16 billion. And he introduced a measure that would limit the Federal Communications Commission authority to review telecom takeovers and monopolies. As chairman of the committee, he also voted to ban state and local taxes on Internet access, a bill supported by the AT&T and the rest of the telecom industry. McCain won praise year after year from the industry for his support of bills that favored the giants but not the public at large.

It makes sense then that AT&T, the biggest telecom company in the country, will be the biggest party thrower at the RNC next week, hosting nearly 20 parties across the Twin Cities for Republican lawmakers. That’s because, with net neutrality a campaign issue, AT&T has the most to gain. McCain has vehemently opposed net neutrality, meaning that he thinks Internet Service Providers, such as AT&T, for example, can own and restrict content on the web.

To get access to such “privileged” content, users like you and me would have to pay for an expensive, multi-tiered service package. In other words, McCain wants to give his buddies at AT&T and other telecom industries major tax breaks (25 percent, according to his most recent tech plan) and the ability to censor and control content. Such a trampling of net neutrality would result in billions of dollars in profits for AT&T, which is in the wireless, internet, and satellite TV business and has more than 100 million customers. But it would mean consumers and businesses would have to pay a lot more for access, and even then companies like AT&T could block content, services, and applications.

Next week, AT&T parties will dot the Twin Cities day and night, its party goers/lawmakers lit up by the blue glow of their AT&T iPhones and telltale smiles. As the second-largest campaign contributor in the country, donating a total of $39.5 million since 1989, just ahead of the National Association of Realtors, AT&T is going all out for the shindigs, hosting one every day for various state delegates. And while it’s illegal for private companies to host a party specifically for individual lawmakers, it doesn’t stop the companies from courting them and schmoozing them. Here are just a few of the parties AT&T will be throwing for lawmakers next week:

August 31
Salute to the Screen Actors Guild at the Fine Line Music Café (10pm-2am)

September 1
AT&T reception for California delegates at Brit’s Pub (5pm-7pm)

September 2
Young Guns reception at Brit’s Pub (5pm-7pm)
African-American voter reception at Karma (7pm-10pm)

September 3
The One campaign featuring “A-list” musical guest at Epic (10pm-2am)

What can $50,000 get you these days? If you’re wanting to get access to lawmakers at the Republican National Convention, not much. That amount of dough is worth only a Viking Sponsorship, which gives a wealthy corporate donor limited access to the major goings-on with credentialed tickets to convention sessions, invitations to all 2008 host committee leadership events, and a sponsorship listing in official guide books. At the Democratic National Convention, $52,800 gets you roughly the equivalent, with a few bags emblazoned with your company’s logo thrown in for good measure. But if you want to really get to the heavyweights, you have to pony up at least 100 grand.

For the upcoming RNC, corporate giants like Cargill, UnitedHealth, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo — companies whose profits have increased generously on the heels of lax laws that have hurt consumers — are willing to shell out a few hundred grand and then some for RNC sponsorships and golden tickets to schmooze with lawmakers. It’s this proliferation of big-time corporate sponsors, all of whom are donating anywhere from $50,000 to $5 million to the RNC for that privilege, that has the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen calling for Congress to shore up the loopholes in federal election laws and congressional ethics rules that have allowed corporations to contribute more than a combined $112 million to the RNC and DNC this year.

The soft-money sponsorships and lavish parties are a way for corporations to evade FEC rules by making unlimited contributions to the “host committee” instead of directly to a candidate. In exchange, they get the velvet rope lifted for an opportunity to mingle and plead with Washington bigwigs during what is supposed to be a publicly financed event. So who are the corporations wining and dining the Republican Party lawmakers in hopes of future reimbursements? Here’s a list of sponsorship levels (via Public Citizen) and major RNC corporate-sponsored shindigs:

• Viking sponsor. For $50,000 or more, the donor receives credentialed tickets to convention sessions, invitations to all 2008 host committee leadership events, and is listed as a sponsor in official guide books and on the 2008 website.

• Bronze Sponsor. For $100,000, donors get the same perks as Viking Sponsors with additional access to “premier” Minneapolis/St. Paul venues for “corporate hospitality” events and to the Xcel Center Hospitality Suite. Companies that attain this level of sponsorship, such as Land O’Lakes and Waste Management, may also opt to sponsor volunteer uniforms and water bottles.

• Silver Sponsor. For $250,000, donors such as Cargill, Eli Lily, Koch, and Wells Fargo gain “special access” to all host committee parties and events and to the Host Committee Suite at the Convention Center. Their status as a Silver Sponsor also qualifies these companies to be the exclusive official provider of a particular service to the convention.

• Gold Sponsor. For $500,000, donors gain the added perk of participation in tours of the convention spaces and cities during “Get to Know Minneapolis/St. Paul Days.”

• Platinum Sponsor. For $1 million, donors such as Xcel, UnitedHealth, Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, and US Bank, win VIP access to the Xcel Center. Originally, Platinum Sponsors were also promised a private reception with Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Norm Coleman, and the mayors of St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Bloomington. This perk was removed from the publicized packet after a number of critical articles appeared in both local and national press.

• Finance Vice-Chair. For $2.5 million, donors were also promised a golfing outing with Republican leadership, another bonus that was met with public outrage and subsequently dropped from the publicized packet.

• Finance Co-Chair. For $5 million, donors such as Qwest gain exclusive VIP access to the host committee media party and VIP tours of the Twin Cities.

The parties, via the Sunlight Foundation, so far include a “Young Guns” reception hosted by AT&T, a party called “Building Stable Communities” hosted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a performance by Mike Huckabee’s band at the Mill City Museum. Here are a few of the highlights:

Sept. 1

“Red Rhythm and Rimes” Late Night with Leann Rimes and The Bellamy Brothers: Keeping Florida a RED State

Luncheon: Affordable Housing at Boat Club, hosted by National Association of Realtors

After Hours Hospitality, at Club Car Train, hosted by Patron Express

Reception: Bank of America Goes Green, at University Club Penthouse

Sept. 2

Building Stable Communities for America’s Future, at Graves Hotel, hosted by NAHB Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac Realtors

Party with music by Styx, hosted by Food and Ag Industry Minnesota Agri-Growth Council

Mississippi Rising: Gov. Haley Barbour Hosts Fellow Republican Governors and MS Elected Officials at Epic, hosted by National Mining Association, American Gas Association, Haley and Friends, and American Petroleum Institute

Sept. 3

Hospitality Space, at McGovern’s Tavern, hosted by Citi, Honeywell, and Anheuser-Busch

The One Campaign & RIAA featuring “A-list musical guest” at Epic, hosted by the Recording Industry of America and AT&T

A Toast to Travel, Hospitality and Real Estate Across America at Carlson Hangar, Holman Field, St. Paul Airport; hosted by National Real Estate Organizations, American Hotel & Lodging Assoc., Distilled Spirits Council, DLA Piper, NAREIT National Business Travel Assoc., Printing Industries of America

AT&T Reception Honoring OH Delegates at Brit’s Pub

Daimler Honors AL, NC, SC Delegates at Windows on Minnesota, The Marquette Hotel / IDS Center, hosted by Daimler

Creative Coalition Gala Concert featuring celebrity guests and the Charlie Daniels Band at The Depot, hosted by Target