Clinton owed $10 million at the end of March, has made loans to her campaign totaling $11.4 million so far, and will more than likely end the primary season in the red.

Among her options is transferring that debt to her Senate campaign committee and paying it off with contributions to her 2012 reelection effort. But, for the short term, many Democrats believe the answer lies with Obama and his vast network of contributors.

"That is a normal thing when a candidate finishes a race and loses, the winning candidate would try to help if there's some debt that's been incurred," said Tad Devine, a Democratic consultant who is unaligned this year.

By law, Obama cannot write a massive check from his campaign account to hers. But his donors, large and small, might be willing to donate to Clinton in the name of party unity.

Clinton campaign officials say they have not contemplated what she will do with the debt. Asked whether she would welcome financial help from Obama, her spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told Fox News Sunday that "any talk of that is premature."

Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, offered a similar response. "She hasn't asked, and we haven't offered."

Clinton's loans to the campaign come from her share of the wealth she and her husband have amassed since they left the White House in 2001. Their tax returns show she and the former president made $109 million in the last seven years. But if Clinton wants to pay herself back for the millions she has poured into her campaign, donors would have to act quickly.

Under a 2002 campaign-finance law that Republican presidential candidate John McCain helped write, Clinton would have only until the Democratic convention in late August to raise money to cover her loan. After the convention, she could only raise up to $250,000 toward paying it off.

But if Obama were to ask his donors to help Clinton, it would be at the same time that he likely will be asking those donors to contribute to the Democratic National Committee so the party will have money to help him in the general-election campaign.

Clinton might have another avenue at her disposal. The law permits her to transfer the presidential campaign debt to her Senate reelection committee, which would allow her to use contributions to the Senate account to pay off presidential campaign vendors. Clinton is up for reelection in 2012.

Campaign-finance lawyers say she also is entitled to transfer money she raised for the presidential general election to her Senate account, provided those donors agree to reassign the money. Clinton has raised more than $22 million for the general election. If donors approve transferring any of that money to the Senate committee, some lawyers said it appeared she could use it to pay off the debt.

Others raised doubts, saying such use of money from general-election contributors to retire primary debt would amount to double giving by those donors. "This is pretty uncharted," observed Robert Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission.