I don’t know for a fact that Steven Spielberg arranged for Bill Clinton to come to the Golden Globes and speak admiringly of Lincoln the president and Lincoln the film. But it seems like a pretty good guess that he did. Bill was eloquent as usual, but what was the effect of his testimonial? People realized that Spielberg wants Oscar glory really badly this time, and will cash in any I.O.U.’s, political or otherwise, that might help in this regard.

Argo winning Best Motion Picture, Drama and Ben Affleck winning for Best Director tonight came right on the heels of the BFCA Critics Choice awards deciding to give the same awards, and I think that tore it. I think everyone except for the Lincoln die-hards realized tonight that Lincoln doesn’t have the horses to win the Best Picture Oscar, and Spielberg is probably out of the running also. And the reason for the latter, I think, is that he looked scared tonight. Playing the Clinton card was basically Spielberg saying to himself, “How do we shake this race loose and tip it in our favor? Obviously we have support but possibly not enough. That fucking Critics Choice Argo win didn’t help any. I know…I’ll call up Bill Clinton and have him make a pitch for it!”

It’s now Argo in the lead for Best Picture vs. Silver Linings Playbook with Lincoln in third place.