NEW YORK
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday night held her first fundraiser since being named as President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of state, enlisting a top television actress to help her erase the debt remaining from her Democratic primary campaign against him.
A total amount raised was not available for the sold-out event, but as of her last Federal Election Commission filing, the New York Democrat carried $7.6 million in debts to some of her top consultants and strategists who crafted her political strategy against Mr. Obama.
Despite the urgency of her financial needs, the tone of the evening was lighthearted, according to two participants present for the private fundraiser, which was closed to the press.
Mrs. Clinton joked at the fundraiser she won’t be able to keep the same early hours as her soon-to-be predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, the current secretary of state.
According to a participant in the event, Mrs. Clinton talked about her recent two-hour dinner with Miss Rice, who rises at 4:45 a.m. each day for a 60-minute workout and goes to bed early.
“I don’t think I can take that advice. I think I am going to see what the world looks like from a later perspective,” said Mrs. Clinton, garnering laughs from the 1,200 donors in the audience at Manhattan Center Studios.
The invitation for the fundraiser - planned before she was nominated - noted that supporters who recruited at least 10 people to give the maximum $1,000 donation will get a “VIP seat upgrade and backstage photo with Hillary.”
Legally, Mrs. Clinton can continue to collect money from supporters toward the debt relief even after she is confirmed to be Mr. Obama’s secretary of state.
A narrow exception for Cabinet members will even allow her to attend fundraisers to retire the debt, so long as she limits her remarks at the event to a brief expression of appreciation. Her campaign committee also legally can continue to solicit funds as long as the pitches do not come directly from Mrs. Clinton.
The fundraiser would have brought in at least $60,000 if each of the ballroom’s 1,200 seats were taken by $50 donors and as much as $1.2 million if each attendee donated the $1,000 maximum.
Mr. Obama recently activated his own massive supporter list by having Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. send an e-mail urging donations to help Mrs. Clinton’s debt-relief efforts. A total has not been released from that solicitation.
Former President Bill Clinton served as the warm-up act at his wife’s fundraiser.
According to one attendee, Manhattan resident Victor Armando Bernace, Mr. Clinton joked about the relief effort, saying Mrs. Clinton needs to get rid of the debt in the same way the federal government must pay off its debts.
“Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera served as a moderator for the 90-minute fundraiser, asking Mrs. Clinton questions that were submitted by supporters ahead of time.
Miss Ferrera, who traveled to seven states for the former first lady during the long Democratic primary season, told her that whenever she has a tough time she thinks of Mrs. Clinton.
When someone in the audience told Mrs. Clinton she will be missed, she responded she is not planning to move.
“I am not going anywhere,” she said, adding she wants “I am a New Yorker” on her tombstone.
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