Clinton and Obama on Democratic money trail

Senator Hillary Clinton has been helping Barack Obama raise funds for his presidential run, and Obama is returning the favor -- although he needed a reminder to do his part.

Obama and Clinton appeared together today, along with Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, before an audience of 2,300 supporters at the New York Hilton who paid between $250 and $2,300 for tickets -- and then were asked to pony up as much as $23,000 for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

``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 said.

But the previous night, at another high-end New York fundraiser for 1,000 donors at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Obama finished his speech and left the stage without carrying out a crucial favor for Clinton -- asking his supporters to help her retire her campaign debt.

Soon afterward, and apparently after being prodded by an aide, Obama returned to the stage and quieted the crowd so he could appeal for help for Clinton, who has a debt of about $23 million. He noted that had he been on the losing end, he would have been looking to her for help in retiring his debt.

Clinton was not at that evening event, but she joined Obama at a later dinner last night for about 150 guests that was even pricier. Donors paid $33,100 a person, with the proceeds going to the Obama campaign and the DNC.