Politics: Personal but not private

Tip O’Neill once famously said that all politics is local.

Well, in Hollywood, all politics is personal.

Take the speculation that began to swirl around entertainment industry mogul David Geffen this week when Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to look into a presidential run.

Geffen’s name surfaced immediately as one of Hollywood’s early major supporters of the young senator, a significant snub to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) possible presidential bid. Although Geffen -- once a powerful Clinton ally -- has not yet spoken publicly on the matter, his longtime friend Arianna Huffington believes the message is clear: “David Geffen has already declared for Obama, and many other Hollywood power brokers, who are not ready to go public yet, are making it known in private that they are in the ABH (Anyone But Hillary) camp,” Huffington wrote recently in a Los Angeles Times column.

There are no mass movements in Hollywood, but rather webs of interpersonal relationships. Bill Clinton understood that more than anyone, using smarts, charm, friendships and pure charisma to mobilize Hollywood like never before

And many of the reasons why the entertainment industry was excited about Clinton during his presidential run in 1992 also apply to Obama and others this year (John Edwards was here last week, appearing on Jay Leno, visiting supporters and generating lots of buzz). The fractured support underscores a simple truth: The entertainment industry is constantly searching for the next big thing, someone with a great story and the power to connect to people on a personal level.

Former Paramount head Sherry Lansing said that certainly political support in Hollywood comes down to “who you trust and believe in.”

She says she likes Hillary Clinton -- and others too.

“We’ve had a long relationship with Hillary,” Lansing said. “We know Barack, really we know all of them and now they’re all running. People are excited about it. We have to support them emotionally and financially and listen to what they have to say before we make our choice.”

She added: “It’s like an everyday personal relationship.”

Geffen was once considered one of Bill Clinton’s strongest Hollywood allies during his presidency, and then the friendship started to fracture. “They grew apart,” said one Hollywood insider who declined to elaborate. “I won’t even speculate on all the issues that go into any complex relationship.”

In a 2001 Time magazine article, Clinton said he believed his refusal to pardon Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who some believe was falsely convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1977, had hurt his relationship with Geffen. Geffen’s top political consultant, Andy Spahn, had pushed for Peltier’s release with his boss’ blessing. (“David Geffen will barely talk to me!” Clinton told the magazine.)

In 2005, meanwhile, Geffen told a crowd in New York that he wouldn’t support Hillary Clinton if she decided to run for president. “She can’t win, and she’s an incredibly polarizing figure,” Geffen told an audience gathered for a Q&A; at New York’s 92nd Street Y. “And ambition is just not a good enough reason.”

Although Hollywood politicos now list Geffen in the Obama camp, that doesn’t mean everyone will follow.

“You’ll see the majority of the people in Hollywood giving to multiple candidates,” said political consultant Noah Mamet.

Perhaps signaling a maturation in Hollywood political giving, entertainment industry donors are following New York’s model by giving to a number of candidates, Mamet said. They’re hedging their bets so they still have access no matter what the outcome. “People realize you don’t have to attach yourself to just one candidate,” he said.

Norman Lear said he believes supporting a number of candidates is important for the future. “I think my kids will benefit from the rub-off of a good, vigorous discussion. I would back Obama and Sen. Clinton and [former Iowa Gov. Tom] Vilsack and Edwards. And we would all benefit.”

Obama’s staff was busy working the Hollywood crowd this week to set up a number of gatherings here in February. “People are falling over each other to have fundraisers,” said one insider. Nothing is set, but there’s talk that Geffen will hold a fundraiser for Obama here next month.

George Clooney, meanwhile, said he would also be willing to raise money for Obama’s bid. After all, Clooney said recently, he and Obama have been close friends for several years.

tina.daunt@latimes.com