Story highlights "We've got to work as hard as we can," Obama said

Obama spoke at a California fundraiser Monday

San Diego (CNN) A Hillary Clinton triumph in November will be made sweeter by a wide margin of victory, President Barack Obama told Democratic donors in California Monday.

Speaking to 350 supporters here who shelled out hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend, Obama said it wasn't enough just to elect his former secretary of state. He said he wanted Clinton to bury Donald Trump as a symbolic repudiation of his views.

"We've got to work as hard as we can, not just to make sure that Hillary wins, but to make sure she wins big, to send a clear message about who we are as a people," Obama said. "We want to win big. We don't just want to eke it out, particularly when the other guy's already started to gripe about how the game is rigged."

Polls show Clinton with a solid edge in the presidential contest, both nationally and in key battlegrounds. Trump, meanwhile, has questioned the validity of the polling, saying the surveys are overly weighted toward Democrats.

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