The GOP's dim constellation

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The most forlorn soul at the Republican National Convention in New York next week may be the "celebrity liaison," that dutiful GOPer whose job it will be to shuttle actors and musicians to Madison Square Garden.

In Boston, where the Democrats nominated their man, they would have been justified in rolling out a red carpet to the FleetCenter.

If it wasn't Carole King singing or Glenn Close preaching onstage, it was rock star Bono, actor John Cusack or director Robert Altman wandering the arena floor. The after-hours cocktail parties and fund-raisers were abuzz with celebrities, too.

Even the arena's house band featured the likes of drummer Steve Jordan, a former band mate of Keith Richards' and a co-producer of Patti Scialfa's latest album. Not a household name, true, but far from your typical hired hand.

Don't expect such a glittery scene in New York.

Republican conventions are traditionally low on star power, but this year's roster is even weaker than usual. (By way of comparison, the 2000 convention featured some big-time pop-culture names, such as Bruce Willis and pro-wrestling superstar and actor the Rock.)

An announcement from Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie promises musical acts that "range from country to classical and from blues to punk." That might be true technically (although I'm not sure who fits the punk billing), but a more accurate release would have said, "a lot of country, a little gospel ... and anybody else we could scare up."

Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack, Darryl Worley -- these country stars would be A-list catches if the nation had no coasts.

Delegates with a taste for rock are left with a fairly popular Christian band (Third Day) and the young, relatively unknown act Dexter Freebish. All right, the completely unknown Dexter Freebish.

The Republican entertainment lineup is even thinner in actors. The prize catch so far is Ron Silver, who may not even be the most popular middle-aged Jewish character actor named Ron. (He's neck and neck with Ron Leibman.)