I got another, “sorry, but this is a private party,” when I tried to go a party for the Alabama delegation, including Gov. Bob Riley and Mike Hubbard, Alabama Republican Party chairman, sponsored by Alabama Power. I’m not sure why. Given how few people had shown up at that point–maybe two dozen about 45 minutes into the scheduled party time–they could have used some help eating the food and drinking the drinks.

Alabama Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company, a major federal campaign contributor that the Center for Responsive Politics profiles here. Riley received $50,000 from Alabama Power for his inaugural festivities, according to the Mobile Register. The company operates a nuclear plant in Alabama and is pushing for more federal support for nuclear energy, according to the Birmingham Business Journal. Southern Company is also the top campaign contributor to Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

We just went by the Epic nightclub, where a party for the Republican Governors Association (RGA) was underway, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, the National Mining Association, and the American Gas Association.

Yet again, we were turned away by a pleasant gatekeeper, who did confirm that it was Mississippi Governor “Haley Barbour’s party” that we were not allowed to attend. “I’m sorry, but you’re not on the list.” Who was on the list? I looked while she paged through it and saw some company names leap out: Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and the lobbying firm the Dutko Group.

Meanwhile, there was a lot of energy on the streets. Outside the RGA party protestors rallied. We saw some folks from Code Pink and some people who described themselves as “lobbyists for lobbyists” protesting what they said were Sen. John McCain’s and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s ties to big oil.

A few blocks away a different crowd gathered in front of the Target Center. It was a group of Ron Paul supporters, who had attended a “Rally for the Republic” featuring Paul. Paul had tried and failed to get a speaking role at the Republican National Convention. The event’s organizers claimed they sold over 10,000 tickets.

All day there have been private parties at Brit’s Pub here in Minneapolis. I know because I’ve been holed up for much of that time working at a Caribou Coffee next door, where there is a free wireless connection. The velvet rope is out, the security guards are stationed, and there’s a sign that says “private” out front. Earlier today one of the barristas said that he’d seen Laura Bush go inside.

According to our database, most of these events appear to be delegation parties sponsored by AT&T. A few minutes ago I walked over and asked if I could enter–there’s a party right now for the Georgia delegation. No, I was told–this is a private party, and “not even press are allowed.” I can’t have any way of knowing what they are doing in there, but it certainly seems all the worse that it’s so hush hush.

ABC News’ Brian Ross got the photo last night as Tom DeLay entered the party last night for the organization he co-founded, Coalition for a Conservative Majority:

MINNEAPOLIS — Tom DeLay, the former House GOP majority leader whose connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff brought scandal and disgrace to the Republican party, returned to the spotlight in Minneapolis last night, helping to host a private party that drew hundreds of delegates and Republican officials.

Read the story here.

On a soggy Minneapolis morning, we ventured into an “issue briefing” continental breakfast sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry at the Hotel Ivy, hosted by Astellas, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis. It was a rather intimate gathering of perhaps about 20 people.

The food: coffee, danish, slices of honeydew, grapes, and other continental breakfast fare.

At the podium: Phrma lobbyists, checking their blackberries. We saw: Brian Burns of Johnson and Johnson; Jim Elkin, of Novartis; and Michael Ruggiero, of Astellas.

We were just settling in with our cup of decaf coffee for the issue briefing itself, when a party representative asked us to leave. “This is a private event,” she said. As we headed for the door, we believe we heard the name of Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) mentioned, as in, “We’re going to start without Rep. Rogers.” It would be a logical choice of speakers, as Rogers’ top contributing industry is the pharmaceutical industry.

From what we could tell, the parties were on in Minneapolis tonight at the Republican National Convention. Sen. John McCain had made a pitch that events be turned into hurricane fundraisers. However, these appeared to be the same parties that would have occurred, hurricane or not–opportunities for corporate sponsors to schmooze with members of Congress and convention goers.

Our first stop was Norman’s. Our cabbie had told us there was a party there for Rudy Giuliani. Sure enough, when we walked into the restaurant and up the stairs, we were told it was a private party for–Giuliani.

“Are members of Congress invited?” we asked.

“Oh yes,” said the helpful young woman sitting behind a table piled high with nametags. Unfortunately she would not let us enter the party, nor would she allow us to take a photo of the big placard with the list of corporate sponsors for the party. We did catch Woodbridge, Opulent Liquors, and Anheueser Busch. We didn’t notice any signs for hurricane relief.

From Norman’s we walked a few blocks to Bellanotte, the restaurant that was the site for this party for the Republican Governors Association, where corporate donors had ponied up as much as $250,000 for a “Lake Minnetonka Package,” $100,000 for a Lake Calhoun package, and so on. The main sponsors were the Edison Electric Institute and the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade associations for the electric utility and nuclear industries. Alas we arrived too late–the party was over. No special note that we saw here either for hurricane relief.

The next stop was the Aqua Club, where there was a party for the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, an organization founded by former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) as a counterpoint to MoveOn.org on the left. Here there was a line stretching past a red velvet rope. Black SUVs drove by and deposited revelers. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) was seen entering. Here again, no obvious sign of hurricane relief. And again, we didn’t get in.

Imagine our surprise when we moved on to this party at Solera thrown by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, The Hill, The Times, Daimler, Amgen, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and others. A similar party had been thrown at the Democratic National Convention by the same list of sponsors. They let us in! We’re not used to that type of treatment. Judging by the big check-in for media at the front door, this was not designed to be one of the more secretive parties.

Here a big pitch was made for fundraising for the Red Cross. In addition to a sign outside, inside we were asked to contribute to the hurricane victims. (And let the record note we did–$10. On reflection, we should have given more.)

And here were four floors full of partiers, mostly a young crowd. One patio was reserved for cigar smokers, of which there were many. We didn’t recognize any members of Congress or lobbyists, but then again, that’s not our strong suit. We did note that the food served was of the finger variety–veal meatballs, ham-and-cheese croquettes, shrimp and clams, sliced filet mignon, making the party eligible for the “toothpick” exception under the new ethics law. And there were extremely well stocked bars. (We had club soda.) It’s interesting how the ethics law doesn’t touch liquor.

That’s our party report for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for more.

I’ve just arrived in the Twin Cities, where Sen. John McCain had suspended most of today’s official convention activities in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. From what I’ve been reading, many of the scheduled parties here this week have been continuing, although some have been converted into fundraisers for hurricane victims.

From the Washington Times’ Jennifer Haberkorn:

Many of the events, parties and fundraisers scheduled for this week for the Republican National Convention have been redesigned into fundraisers to benefit Gulf Coast residents dealing with Hurricane Gustav.

The liquor industry, which planned to host a party Monday night in Minneapolis, changed the name of its party from Spirits of Minneapolis to Spirits of the Gulf Coast.

The group of sponsors, which include the Distilled Spirits Council, Daimler, Amgen, Lockheed Martin and others, issued an e-mail before the party asking attendees to make a donation to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund and promising to match contributions.

From the Wall Street Journal’s Brody Mullins:

Campaign aides have been reaching out to corporate party planners today and asking them to turn the dozens of nightly cocktail hours, concerts and boozy bashes into fund-raising events. The McCain campaign has emailed forms to party organizers with donation pledge forms the campaign wants distributed at the parties.

I’ll be venturing out later to check out some scheduled parties for tonight. Stay tuned.

Ok, first apologies to the writers of Fiddler on the Roof for that headline.

Leslie Wayne and Michael Luo of The New York Times nail the convention party story today in their report on how campaign donors to the political parties are getting, well, a little special treatment when they attend the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Major donors to the Democratic Party, the Obama campaign and the Denver host committee are getting Invesco sky boxes. Donors giving $1,000 to the Obama Victory Fund in Colorado get “club level” seats and a postspeech reception. And bundlers who delivered on their $250,000 pledges will get premium seats and convention passes.

On the Republican side:

[M]ajor McCain and Republican National Committee, many of them lobbyists, are getting a special Platinum Package, which provides hotel rooms at the Grand Hotel or the Westin in Minneapolis, exclusive dinners and cocktail receptions, as well as a Tuesday night party featuring the comedian Dennis Miller. The group, referred to as McCain Friends and Family, has its own schedule of events, part of what campaigns call “donor maintenance.”

The important thing to remember about these donor perks, parties, and receptions is that because they are part of political fundraising, they are exempt from the new ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. That means no worry about toothpicks, none about whether an event is “widely attended” or not-no worry about anything like that. Even though there still are plenty of old-fashioned entertainment at the conventions sponsored by special interests, my guess is that a lot of the partying action has moved to these donor events.

Over the last few days there has been some great reporting on the upcoming party scene at the Denver and Republican conventions, not least because many of the articles mention our own humble newly launched website.

In the picture is worth 1,000 words category, the Las Vegas Sun’s Lisa Mascaro’s story displays a “slider” without a toothpick and one cut in half with a toothpick, to illustrate how the “toothpick rule” governing convention parties works. Those who wish to attend members of Congress or top staff under this exception to the gift rule can serve the one with the toothpick, but not the one without.

Jim Kuhnhenn of the Associated Press reports that medical trade groups are feting lawmakers in Denver and the Twin Cities:

The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and other medical groups will hold joint receptions for members of Congress at both conventions.

“The idea is to give our leadership a chance to be with these folks to talk about our issues and make sure that our issues are out there,” said Michael Fleming, a physician who is chairman of the board of directors of FamMedPac, the family physicians’ political action committee.

Brody Mullins and Elizabeth Williamson at The Wall Street Journal write on the proliferation of events at the conventions that technically qualify as charitable events, another ethics law exemption.

The rules don’t apply to charitable fundraisers. So lawmakers and aides are free to play in a poker tournament sponsored by the Poker Players Alliance. Funding for the event and charitable contributions come from the alliance and various other sponsors. Because proceeds will go to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the poker lobby can pick up the tab for the event and attend along with about 200 poker celebrities, lawmakers, aides and delegates. Guests will be given $5,000 worth of chips for the four-hour tournament, with the winnings going to the veterans group. A spokeswoman for the alliance says the event complies with the law.

And they also illustrate the “widely attended event” exemption:

Another popular party exemption is the so-called “widely-attended” event clause. Under that rule, corporations can pick up the tab for parties if they meet two conditions. One is that at least 25 people invited are not members of Congress or staff. The second condition, which applies only to House members: The party must have some element that relates to official congressional business.

So when the Recording Industry Association of America decided to throw the Kanye West party, it teamed up with the One Campaign in order to promote solutions to global AIDS and poverty. Literature on the topic will be available at the event and several speakers will address poverty relief before the concert.

“The truth is the ethics changes haven’t affected our parties very much,” said Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the trade association.

Likewise, when the Distilled Spirits Council throws the “Spirits of Denver,” party goers will hear a brief presentation on how to prevent underage drinking.

With the parties about to start, I’ve got some butterflies in my stomach about crashing them. I am fortifying myself with certain feminine rituals-new lipstick and a fresh pedicure. I’m for ridding the world of poverty and AIDS, and now that I’m a mother, I’m certainly against underage drinking. But will the party hosts let me in to these parties so I can be educated on these matters? We’ll see.

Check out this great whimsical guide for lawmakers on what they can and can’t do at the conventions this year as per the new ethics law, the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act, coming your way from the Center for Responsive Politics. They include:

1) Do not be an honored guest.

2) Leave your dancing shoes in Washington.

3) Put your poker face on.

4) Pack a snack.

To get the details read the guide!