LOS ANGELES — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama wrapped up his first California campaign swing yesterday by invoking the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. at a rally south of downtown, then collecting more than $1 million in checks at a celebrity-studded gala in Beverly Hills.

The freshman senator from Illinois offered both crowds variations on his pledge to put a stop to the "slash-and-burn" politics and insider culture of the nation's capital.

"There's something happening in the country," Obama told several thousand supporters waving blue "Obama '08" signs at the afternoon rally on a ball field in the Crenshaw section of the city. "There's a mood in the air. There's a sense that the way we've been doing business for the last couple of decades has to change, that we are at a crossroads in this nation's history."

DAZZLING HOLLYWOOD

The south Los Angeles rally and Beverly Hills reception were the showcase events of Obama's three-day trip to California. Obama, who formally announced his candidacy 11 days ago, has dazzled Hollywood glitterati for months. But for many, the Beverly Hilton soiree — thrown by DreamWorks studio co-founders David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg — offered the first chance to see him in person.

Stars who showed up for the $2,300-a-ticket event included Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman, Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller. From the reception, Obama headed to Geffen's Beverly Hills estate to dine with roughly 40 guests — those who raised at least $46,000 apiece for the Hilton gathering. Obama raised money earlier this week in San Diego, San Francisco and Palo Alto.

The crowd at the Crenshaw event reflected the extraordinary interest that Obama has generated nationwide among Democrats. It is unusual for a presidential candidate to draw thousands of supporters to a Los Angeles rally nearly a year before California's primary — or even to try.

"Obama may be the only one who can do that right now, which is significant," said Joe Trippi, who ran Howard Dean's White House campaign in 2004.

Obama, who would be the nation's first black president, plans similar rallies over the next week in Austin, Texas, and Cleveland.

His stop in the predominantly black Crenshaw area was part of his effort to build support among African-Americans, a mainstay of the Democratic Party. His only press interview during the California trip, aides said, was with the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African-American weekly newspaper. In Crenshaw, Obama told the racially mixed crowd of King's inspiration amid setbacks of the civil rights era, and said his campaign for the presidency also required Americans to work to improve society.

"We can transform the country, right here and right now," he said. "We've got to win, though, to make a change."

MOVING UP PRIMARIES

Obama's California trip underscored the state's more prominent role in the 2008 race for the White House. To enhance California's clout in the party nomination contests, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have agreed to advance the state's primary to Feb. 5.

Other big states — New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Illinois among them — are also taking steps to move their primaries to Feb. 5. In years past, candidates would typically dart unseen through such states to raise money for the crucial opening contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

But with the crush of primaries now likely to occur Feb. 5, candidates already are jostling to heighten their visibility in big states that rarely welcome so many of them so early in the election season.

A leading Democratic candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, held a campaign forum yesterday in Miami. A top Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, will appear in Long Beach with Schwarzenegger today to spotlight his efforts against global warming. And Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani stumped for several days in California last week.