Despite raising $2.5 million from just 10 fat cats on the Hamptons this week in a fundraiser hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton, her campaign reported Wednesday that is far short of its goal of raising $10 million by tonight.

Hillary Clinton's second fundraiser today in the Hamptons raised $2.5 million from 10 people who paid at least $250,000 a piece. — Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) August 31, 2016



"We have less than a day left to hit our critical $10 million online goal to close out August — and we're only 74 percent of the way there," said Campaign Manager Robby Mook in a desperate fundraising memmo. "Can you help us out with a quick $1 right now? It's the down payment we're making to prepare for the last lap of this race," he said in the email.

It's doubtful Clinton is in a money hole. CNN's Dan Merica tweeted that she raised about $20 million while vacationing on New York's Hamptons and some $70 million in August at 37 fundraisers.

Mook's email:

I'll keep this direct: Tonight at midnight we are out of time to fundraise for August. We set a huge $10 million goal to raise online because we all know that we've not seen the worst from Trump.

Huge: Hillary Clinton raised $70 million at the 37 fundraisers she headlined in August, according to CNN's estimate. — Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) August 31, 2016



After Labor Day, this election is going to be more unpredictable and more intense than it's been so far. This team has to be ready for literally anything.

We have less than a day left to hit our critical $10 million online goal to close out August — and we're only 74 percent of the way there. Can you help us out with a quick $1 right now? It's the down payment we're making to prepare for the last lap of this race.

We're now seeing waves of new attacks from Trump aimed at Hillary. Just this week, his campaign announced they are spending millions of dollars on a new ad that will run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia.

And that's happening while we're kicking off a massive Get Out the Vote operation and prepping for three major televised presidential debates. The resources we're raising now will go toward training and dispatching the thousands of volunteers who will help us earn every last vote for Hillary in every single state.

That's why we're being so aggressive about our fundraising this week. Donations are even more valuable in August than in October, because there are still plenty of minds out there we can change.

The investments in our operation today serve as the fortification this campaign needs to protect the small and highly vulnerable lead we've got. In the last couple of weeks, Trump has gained more than two points in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls — don't be complacent, because this race is far from settled.

If we hit our $10 million target by tonight at midnight, we're going to be in good shape. The election won't be locked up, but we'll have the tools we need to make it happen. I don't want this team to start off fundamentally disadvantaged or only meeting 74 percent of ANY goal. I know you don't either:

Thanks — let's keep it up,

Robby

Robby Mook

Campaign Manager

Hillary for America

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com