WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton launched a week-long effort Monday to raise $1 million in donations for his wife's presidential campaign, the same day the New York senator's camp is locked in a high-profile spat with one of her chief rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"All across the country, Hillary is campaigning with the signature wisdom, grace and humor that make her a great candidate," the former president wrote in an e-mail asking for donations for his wife's campaign.

President Clinton's e-mail solicitation follows a $1.3 million fundraiser Tuesday night for Sen. Barack Obama, co-sponsored by DreamWorks studio founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, all former supporters of the Clintons. In a Wednesday New York Times column by Maureen Dowd, Geffen admonished the former president and questioned whether Sen. Clinton will be able to win the presidency, prompting a war of words between the Clinton and Obama camps.

"The attacks on Hillary haven't stopped, and she hasn't stopped winning," the former president wrote in an e-mail that was likely written before Geffen's criticisms were published.

While Geffen is quoted in the column as saying the former president is a "reckless guy" -- an apparent referral to his relationship with Monica Lewinsky -- the former president's e-mail portrays he and his wife in a loving embrace as he praises Sen. Clinton as having "the best combination of mind and hear of everybody I've ever known."