WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama tapped Hollywood -- a reliable Democratic source of big cash, glitz and glamor -- then within hours sent a new appeal to his small-donor Internet base, promising a car magnet to those who send in at least $15 by Monday.

The fundraising gala Tuesday in Los Angeles marked a push by Obama to shore up private funding for his race against Republican John McCain after the Democrat went back on a promise to use public money for his presidential race.

Obama's campaign repeated the candidate's explanation for that move in its Wednesday morning appeal to Internet givers. By forgoing public funds, Obama would be able to raise and spend as much as he wants right up to the November election. McCain has labeled the Obama decision a McCain damaging reversal.

"This will be the first test of our grass roots fundraising program since we declared our independence from the broken campaign financing system," the mass e-mailing said.

Opting out of public financing leaves the Illinois senator, who has already shattered fundraising records by raising $287 million (euro184.35 million) by the end of May, free to raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars for the general election.

"We've got our work cut out for us," the e-mail appeal said, claiming that McCain and the Republican Party had tallied $45 million (euro28.91 million) during May.

"Make a donation of $15 or more by the end of the month and show your support with a 'Yes We Can' car magnet that's not available anywhere else," the e-mail said, referring to Obama's campaign slogan.

McCain was in California as well Tuesday, capitalizing on his bit of star-power at an energy round-table with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor. He called for energy conservation and green technology.

The push by a candidate representing a party not known for its support for environmental issues reflected McCain's efforts to break from the Bush administration's legacy. More directly, he was acknowledging voter concerns about soaring energy prices and building on earlier arguments that the U.S. must break free from dependence on foreign oil through alternative fuel technology.

McCain promised, if elected, he would require that all government vehicles use green technology.

The Austrian-born Schwarzenegger is a McCain backer, but opposes a major element of the candidate's energy strategy -- ending a decades-old federal ban on offshore drilling. McCain has said he would leave the decision to the states if the moratorium is lifted.

During his California visit, McCain acknowledged offshore drilling would do little to immediately lower record gasoline prices, but he argued that the specter of additional supply would have a "psychological impact" that could undercut speculation that has driven the cost to more than US$4 a gallon (US$1 per liter).

Obama criticized McCain's claim of a psychological benefit as political posturing.

The Republicans have already held a major fundraising event last month in New York, with McCain and the national party netting US$7 million.

Obama's campaign refused to say how many millions he and the Democratic National Committee raised at the Hollywood gala, but Democratic officials put the number at close to US$5 million (around euro3.2 million). They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the numbers publicly.

Obama's appeal to the world of movies and its fictional heroes seems natural. The son of a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas, he rose from near-obscurity in a matter of years to topple Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had once appeared to be the all-but-certain Democratic nominee, and could now become the first black U.S. president.

The party's candidates pocketed around 80 percent of the television, movie and music businesses campaign contributions during the primary season. Clinton's withdrawal from the race all but guarantees that Obama will be the recipient of that largesse.

The event -- in which top tickets went for more than US$30,000 (euro19,000) -- drew top-tier celebrities like actors Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard.

Also in attendance was Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, who created two music videos for Obama during the primary season -- including one called "Yes We Can" that set music to clips from his speeches and became an Internet sensation.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee will divide the money from the fundraiser at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Beyond the fundraising, the event reflects the continuing push by Obama to pull together support within the party after a divisive primary battle against Clinton, whose husband had long been viewed as a darling of the entertainment industry.

Obama appealed to those in the crowd who might have supported his former foe. The long primary, he said, "I know caused some heartburn and some frustration." He said he and Clinton "were allies then, and we're allies now."

The two are slated to meet with Clinton's donors Thursday and then campaign together on Friday in Unity, New Hampshire.

And earlier in the day, Obama asked his finance team to help Clinton pay off a debt of at least US$10 million from her failed presidential campaign.

In a teleconference with his top fundraisers Tuesday afternoon, Obama asked them to do what they could to help Clinton, according to two Democrats familiar with the call. A campaign spokesman confirmed that Obama had asked them to help the former first lady.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in his first comment in support of Obama since the Democrat clinched the nomination, offered his support Tuesday in a statement from his spokesman.