Even with the Senate back in session Wednesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) didn’t let his needed presence in Washington, D.C., derail his stellar fundraising stride. [IMGCAP(1)]

Obama began the day with a meeting of his national finance committee. Members of his campaign’s finance team — pollster Joel Benenson, media consultant David Axelrod and campaign manager David Plouffe — were among those on hand to talk about the campaign’s first-quarter success and discuss future strategy.

“We still have a long way to go, but with your continued help and support, I have no doubt that together, we will make history,” Obama wrote in an invitation to the event.

That night, he held a fundraiser at Union Station, with tickets ranging from $1,000 to $2,300.

Respect for Rutgers. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) weighed in on the controversy surrounding talk-show host Don Imus on Wednesday, sending a note to backers of her presidential campaign asking them to join her in showing support for the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.

Clinton called Imus’ comments “small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism.”

“They showed a disregard for basic decency and were disrespectful and degrading to African Americans and women everywhere,” Clinton wrote.

— Lauren W. Whittington