July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton is helping Barack Obama fill the coffers of his presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, raising about $4.1 million at one event in New York last night and more than $500,000 today.

Clinton, who withdrew from the presidential race last month, flew with Obama aboard his campaign plane yesterday from Washington to New York. The two senators chatted briefly before take-off. They didn't sit together and left the plane in separate motorcades.

About 125 donors gave $33,100 apiece for an event last night at the Loews Regency Hotel. This morning, Clinton and Obama attended a women's breakfast at the New York Hilton, where tickets ranged from $250 to $2,300, bringing in more than $575,000.

``As someone who took the same historic journey as Senator Clinton -- who shared a stage with her many times over those 16 months -- I know firsthand how tough she is, how passionate she is, how committed she is to the causes that bring us here today,'' Obama told the gathering of 2,300 people.

Obama, 46, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has held seven fundraisers so far this week. The events followed his decision June 19 to decline $84.1 million in taxpayer funds for the general election and become the first major-party nominee to privately fund his campaign since the 1974 Watergate-era law provided public financing to presidential candidates.

`Early Money Matters'

``Early money matters,'' said former Democratic National Committee Chairman Steve Grossman, who raised money for Clinton and is now on Obama's national finance team. ``The month of July cannot be a dead month. The month of July has to be a huge month.''

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain reported raising $22 million last month and had $26.7 million in the bank, campaign manager Rick Davis said today. He had around $95 million to spend, including the Republican National Committee's bank account balance.

While Obama had been expected to ask supporters at the Grand Hyatt New York to help Clinton retire her debt, he concluded his remarks after 25 minutes without saying anything about it. Just as reporters began to ask his staff why he didn't mention Clinton's debt, Obama interrupted the applause and said: ``Hold on a second guys, I was getting all carried away. I've got one more thing that is important.''

`Know the Drill'

``Senator Clinton still has some debt and I could have had some debt if I hadn't won so I know the drill,'' Obama told the 1,000-person crowd as he pointed out contribution forms that were placed on people's chairs. Helping Clinton ``is part of the process of making sure that we are unified moving forward,'' he said.

From there, he joined the New York senator at the Loews Regency for the $33,100-per-person dinner. The two former rivals gave brief remarks stressing unity and the importance of defeating Republican Senator John McCain in the November election.

``It was one of the great honors of my life to campaign alongside her, to debate her,'' Obama said of Clinton. ``She left a bunch of lumps on my head in debates and was just extraordinary as a campaigner.''

``The necessity to have a unified Democratic party that does everything we possibly can between now and November to elect Senator Obama president is, I hope, self evident,'' said Clinton, who introduced Obama.

`Better Candidate'

Obama, an Illinois senator, thanked Clinton for making him a ``better candidate'' and said he was standing there with ``great humility.''

``To my old friends and my new friends thank you for being here,'' Obama told the crowd that included Obama supporters and those who had supported Clinton during the primaries. ``With just half a wing this bird can't fly so I'm going to need all of you to be passionate and energized.''

Attending the Regency event were venture capitalist Alan Patricof and Vernon Jordan, senior managing director at New York-based Lazard Ltd., both of whom raised at least $100,000 for Clinton's presidential campaign.

Obama had solo events at the Hyatt yesterday evening with supporters who raised $50,000, and then one with donors who gave from $1,000 to $4,600. There he also asked supporters to help Clinton retire her debt.

A private reception to raise money to help retire Clinton's campaign debt was scrapped because Senate votes kept Obama in Washington longer than expected, Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Clinton reported $22.5 million in debts as of May 30, including $10.3 million in personal loans. She has until the August 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Denver to pay herself back, or else her loan will be treated as a contribution to her campaign.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman in New York at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 10, 2008 16:44 EDT