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Ask anyone in Hollywood where they stand on the Hillary issue, and you're likely to get an answer along the lines of, "She's, like, a way better singer than that skankbag Lindsay." Further qualify that you're referring not to Hilary Duff but to Senator Hillary Clinton's chances at a White House run, and the answers aren't nearly as clear cut. The LAT explores how the industry's love affair with the presidential hopeful has been cooling in recent months as liberal Hollywood looks for a promising candidate to lead us out of the Bush era:

Once the darling of the industry's liberal set, Clinton has come under attack from some as she starts to line up support for what many feel will be a run for the presidential nomination. [...]

In December, the Sunday Times of London quoted George Clooney as saying that he was "frustrated and disappointed" that the Democratic leaders — including Clinton — had "backed themselves into a corner" over the Iraq war. According to the paper, Clooney reportedly called Clinton "the most polarizing figure in American politics." [...]

Suddenly the Hillary issue became the question du jour in celebrity interviews:

How's your movie?

What are you wearing to the Oscars?

What about Hillary Clinton?

The article relays recent doubts about Clinton's viability expressed on the record by such female icons as Madonna, Kathleen Turner, and even Sharon Stone, who claimed voters may find Clinton's enduring sexual potency "too threatening." But it may be Clooney's comments, which he claims were taken "out of context," which could end up doing most damage to Clinton's nascent campaign. At this point, a non-endorsement from Hollywood's Liberal Conscience™ Clooney is as good as slapping the slogan, "Hillary Clinton: Committed to raping Iraq's population, one baby at a time" on their campaign literature.