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Donations pour in after Super Tuesday

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Times Staff Writer

The Democratic presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that their primary and caucus victories this week had translated into big numbers: $7.2 million in donations for him and $6.4 million for her.

The influx of cash since Super Tuesday meant that some top Clinton aides who briefly had given up their paychecks would now get their money. The New York senator -- who in January raised less than half of the $32 million Obama brought in -- acknowledged Wednesday that she had lent her campaign $5 million.

By Thursday, however, the Clinton camp was saying that rather than being a sign of trouble, the loan had inspired donors.

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“We’re going to be fine,” Clinton told ABC News. “By the end of the week, we’ll be back on track.”

On a conference call with donors and reporters Thursday, Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said that “there has been a gigantic outpouring of support.”

Clinton’s loan renewed questions about her financial disclosures when a reporter asked Obama whether voters had a right to know the source of her personal wealth.

“I’ll just say that I’ve released my tax returns,” Obama said during a flight to a campaign rally in Nebraska. “That’s been a policy I’ve maintained consistently. I think the American people deserve to know where you get your income from.”

Obama released his 2006 tax returns last year, as he has done in the past.

Clinton has not released her returns.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer noted that Clinton, like all federal officeholders, did comply with the law by issuing yearly financial disclosure statements.

Those documents do not go into specifics, but rather show a range of the value of a candidate’s assets.

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In addition to her annual Senate salary, which is more than $165,000, Clinton has made millions in book royalties.

She has disclosed having a blind trust with her husband, the former president, that is worth $5 million to $25 million, and joint accounts also worth $5 million to $25 million.

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dan.morain@latimes.com

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