Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said the New York senator also was pleased with the showing. "We have been and continue to work together to find opportunities to raise money," she said.
The Obama campaign would not address why more of its donors were not contributing to Clinton. But Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama is "very pleased that so many who supported Sen. Clinton in the primary have taken active roles in the Obama campaign."
Obama's campaign estimates it has helped Clinton raise more than $500,000 and intends to have other fundraisers this fall.
"It is all political spin. In reality you have to pay off your own debt," said Garry Mauro, an attorney who was Clinton's Texas campaign chairman. "Hillary and her supporters are going to have pay off her debt. We're going to have do it ourselves."
Mauro, who ran for Texas governor against George W. Bush in 1998, is a lobbyist and cannot give to Obama, who refuses money from lobbyists. However, Mauro said he has "encouraged anybody who has asked" to donate to Obama. "The way to win is to outspend the other guy," Mauro said.
One Obama donor who heeded the Illinois senator's call is Jeffrey Bleich. A San Francisco attorney, Bleich has known Obama since about 1989, when the presumptive Democratic nominee was a law student at Harvard and Bleich was a clerk for then-federal Judge Abner Mikva. Obama's campaign credits Bleich with helping Obama raise more than $200,000.
Last month, Bleich gave Clinton $2,300.
"The reason that I gave to Sen. Clinton is because ultimately this is about overcoming differences," said Bleich, who was preparing to head to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where he will be an Obama delegate. He said he gave the money to underscore to Clinton backers that "Obama is different."
"It's more than words. It's about bringing people together," Bleich said.
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dan.morain@latimes.com
Times researcher Maloy Moore and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.
