Hollywood joins the crowd

Hillary Clinton will be losing many of her fair weather show biz supporters, who appear ready to join the Barack Obama bandwagon (just in time for an Obama fundraiser next week). All reports would suggest that she’s going to be trounced tonight. As reported by the LAT's Tina Daunt:

If Clinton loses in New Hampshire tonight, predicted longtime political operative turned Hollywood producer Brian Quintana, Hollywood "will defect to Barack in droves." "It is not a question of loyalty; Barack is simply too close to making history for Hollywood not to be part of it," Quintana said. "For most of us, Hillary was our first choice, but she has come up short. Barack has become a movement."

Money is about to get very tight in the Clinton camp - so much so that political writer Thomas Edsall is writing today in the Huffington Post that the campaign is giving serious thought to giving up on Nevada and South Carolina in order to regroup and to save resources for the 19-state mega-primary on February 5. A decision is expected soon.

The Clinton campaign has raised over $100 million, but has "only" $15 to $20 million left. It faces donor reluctance to give more in the face of the Iowa defeat and the prospect of a second loss in New Hampshire today. Even worse, the campaign fears defections among those fundraisers who want to be with a winner and who might be easily persuaded to support Barack Obama. While the amount of money Clinton has would seem to be more than enough by past standards, the cost of competing in the February 5 states -- including New York, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Arizona - is unprecedented in the history of American primaries. She will face, in turn, an extremely well-funded Obama campaign, whose cash register right now doesn't stop ringing as donations are coming in over the Internet, by mail and in checks handed over in person.