Clinton has raised $8M for Obama

WASHINGTON -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has raised more than $8 million for former rival Barack Obama's presidential campaign since July and plans to barnstorm the country for even more cash, as the New York senator works to show she is aggressively helping the candidate who cut short her White House bid.

"I am using every tool that I have to help Democrats win," Clinton told USA TODAY. She was between fundraising events in Texas and California that brought in another $1.5 million for Obama and congressional candidates on Friday and Saturday.

Later this month, Clinton will headline Obama fundraisers in Chicago, Philadelphia and Little Rock along with 11 events to raise money for Democratic congressional candidates and state parties.

She is stepping up efforts to get more Democratic women elected to the Senate. On Friday, she issued an e-mail fundraising appeal for Louisiana incumbent Mary Landrieu and challengers Kay Hagan, who is locked in a tight battle against Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina, and former New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen, who is engaged in a repeat of her close 2002 race with GOP Sen. John Sununu.

The former first lady said in the interview late Friday that her goal is straightforward: "We have a lot to repair in America, and I believe that Democratic leadership is essential to fixing the damage that we are going to inherit."

Clinton, who came closer to claiming a major party's presidential nomination than any woman before her, declined to discuss whether another White House race was in her future.

"I'm looking forward to going to the White House someday and standing there when President Obama signs a bill guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for every American," she said, citing an issue that was a signature of her campaign.

Democratic strategist Tad Devine said Clinton's stature will grow in the Senate no matter the outcome on Election Day because she garnered about 18 million votes in her presidential bid.