John Catsimatidis, who once suggested that Clinton would crush her rivals in political contributions, now has a much more modest take on the fund-raising challenges facing Clinton since Obama's strong showing.

"You have to expand your base," said Catsimatidis. "First you go out and get the money from the easiest sources -- past supporters who wrote big checks. Then you go out and find new people. It's more work."

Asked why she didn't just have more big ticket fund-raisers that hauled in record sums of cash in the first quarter, Catsimatidis wouldn't say that that well had dried up, but instead argued the logic of cheaper events.

"You have to do it because you have to expand your base," he said.