The Obama boomlet in Mass.

HILLARY CLINTON'S bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee is supposed to feel inevitable.

That's a big part of the Clinton strategy and it may play out as planned. But here in Massachusetts -- which has been known as Clinton Country -- it faces an interesting challenge.

Alan Solomont , a top fund-raiser and longtime friend and supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, rocked the local political boat when he signed on to help Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Now, Solomont and other Democratic activists such as lawyer Barry White and Thalia Schlesinger , sister of the late Paul Tsongas, are starting to build a New England political organization for the senator from Illinois.

"I think the American people are looking for a new face, a new voice, a new way of politics," said Solomont, explaining a defection that shocked a crowd that treats the Clintons like rock stars whenever they touch down in the Bay State.

" I was dumbfounded. . . . I think they [Bill and Hillary] were dumbfounded and disappointed," said a fellow Democratic activist, who believes Solomont's decision reflects a desire to become a big fish in the Obama pond. "But even with that political calculus. . . people were stunned," he said.

Whatever the motivation, Solomont's choice of candidate isn't going to change the course of a national campaign. No single individual besides the candidate herself has that power. Right now, Clinton is having great success working the "inevitable" angle.

Polls show her leading the pack nationally and in New Hampshire, and, as a Clinton fund-raiser warned Politico.com , "She's going to raise more money than all the other candidates put together in the first six months of 2007."

But there is symbolism in a local Obama boomlet, humble though it may be. If Massachusetts Democrats -- especially women -- can walk away from Hillary Clinton, her path to the nomination may not be as inevitable as she wants to paint it.

Some ambivalence relates to Clinton's past support for the Iraq war. But it also stems from a certain irony -- the first female presidential candidate with a real chance of winning the party nomination is also part of the boring establishment.

Together, the Clintons are old news; as a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton is a bridge back to Bill Clinton's presidency and the past. Obama is viewed as a bridge to the future.

"You make history either way (Clinton or Obama). If Hillary wins the nomination, I will support her 100 percent, but at this point in time, I'm with Barack. It seems to me that he represents the next generation," said Schlesinger.

With John Kerry out of the presidential race, Massachusetts activists, fund-raisers, and consultants are up for grabs. John Edwards , the former senator from North Carolina, and Bill Richardson , the governor of New Mexico, have local friends and supporters, as does Joe Biden , senator from Delaware.

But the Clintons have a special bond with Bay State Democrats, forged through countless fund-raising events and their high profile vacations on Martha's Vineyard. The bond can also make Clinton's campaign feel "locked and loaded" as one Democrat put it. There's no room for new people, giving other candidates an opportunity to pitch to them.

Steve Grossman , a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who supported Howard Dean in the last fight for the party nomination, is backing Clinton as "the most knowledgeable, experienced, passionate and credible" candidate in the 2008 race. Still, he said, "Massachusetts is an unpredictable, idiosyncratic state. Massachusetts will be highly competitive in terms of fund-raising and grass-roots organization. No one should or can take Massachusetts for granted."

Solomont said that some Massachusetts Democrats are "absolutely" torn between Obama and Clinton -- women especially; his daughters, wife and mother-in-law "were probably a tad taken aback by my decision."

Governor Deval Patrick may be most torn. He worked for the Clinton Justice Department and basked in a Bill Clinton visit during last year's governor's race. But Obama also campaigned for Patrick and their favorite theme, "hope." John Walsh , Patrick's campaign manager, said he will put his efforts behind Patrick's still undetermined choice. Meanwhile, said Walsh, "I am sensing the same desire on the part of the people for a recommitment to a grass-roots type of candidate."

That describes a candidate in the Patrick mode -- a candidate who was anything but inevitable.

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.