"Senator Obama personally gave me a check for Hillary Clinton. His finance chairwoman, Penny Pritzker, gave me a check for Hillary Clinton. So there were a lot of checks being exchanged tonight," McAuliffe said.
NO SMALL DONORS
But Obama will not ask his grass-roots list of 1.5 million donors to kick in on the Clinton debt.
"Small donors, you know, who were writing $5 or $10, or $15, $25 checks, first of all, their budgets are tighter," Obama said. "I'm not going to be individually contacting $15 donors, because frankly, it probably wouldn't be that effective in terms of making a big dent in Senator Clinton's debt."
Clinton, who entered the race in January 2007 a heavy favourite, battled Obama to the end of voting on June 3 in a race that embittered some of her supporters -- particularly some of the female backers who formed her core constituency.
Whether Obama can win over all of those supporters remains unclear, but many public opinion polls show him solidifying his Democratic backing in recent weeks and moving out to a clear national lead on McCain.
The tiny town of Unity in New Hampshire, near the Vermont border, was chosen for the rally not only for the obvious symbolism of its name but because the state will be a critical battleground in the race with McCain.
Democrat John Kerry narrowly captured New Hampshire in the 2004 race against Republican President George W. Bush, but Bush beat Democrat Al Gore there in a close race in 2000.
To enhance the symbolism, each Democratic candidate received exactly 107 votes in the town of Unity in the January 8 New Hampshire primary.
"I think we'll have a terrific time together in New Hampshire, and I think that she will be very effective all the way through November," Obama said.
