Obama donates to own campaign

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has donated 5,000 dollars to his own campaign, the first contribution he has made to his reelection bid, it was announced on Tuesday.

The donation was made public in an email to supporters, in which Obama said: "Yesterday, I made my first donation to support this campaign."

The president also urged supporters to follow his lead, stating: "What I gave won't be enough to surmount the unprecedented fundraising we've seen on the other side, both from our opponent's campaign and from the outside groups and special interests supporting him."

The Obama campaign said that the donation was made online on Monday night, when Obama attended campaign events in New York. This is the first donation Obama has made to his own campaign this year, which the Democrats hope would inspire more grassroots donations.

On the Republican side, Mitt and Ann Romney each donated 75,000 dollars to the joint Romney-Republican National Committee Victory Fund in May.

In the 2008 election cycle, Obama did not donate to his own campaign, according to media reports. But his wife Michelle gave 399 dollars to the effort, and the Obamas sent 4,600 dollars to former rival Hillary Clinton's campaign to help her clear debt after she exited the Democratic nomination race.

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