I made mistakes while campaigning for Hillary: Clinton

Former United States President Bill Clinton has said that he learned a lesson from the verbal duel between his wife Hillary and her main Democratic rival Barack Obama, which erupted after comments he made during the Presidential campaigning, while maintaining that he never personally attacked Barack Obama.

"I think the mistake that I made is to think that I was a spouse like any other spouse who could defend his candidate. I think I can promote Hillary but not defend her because I was president," Clinton said.

Clinton's comments while campaigning for his wife, including comparing Obama's bid to the unsuccessful campaign of an earlier black presidential hopeful, Jesse Jackson, resulted in a bitter war of words between the two top Democratic contenders.

However, Clinton said that a lot of the media reports were factually inaccurate. "I did not ever criticise Senator Obama personally in South Carolina. I never criticised him personally," he said.

"But I think whenever I defend her, I risk being misquoted and risk being the story. I don't want to be the story," he added.

"I need to promote her but not defend her. And I learned a very valuable lesson from all that dust-up," Clinton said. He also ruled out keeping away from Hillary's campaign, rejecting a suggestion from some quarters.

"I think that I have a lot of insight into what it takes to be president and what the challenges of the present day are. I would be campaigning for her even if we were not married. She's the best-qualified person to be president I've ever had a chance to support, and I feel strongly about it. And I think there's nothing wrong with me saying that," he said.

The former president's remarks comes at a time when Hillary and Obama are locked in a gruelling battle for delegates, each hoping that the Saturday primaries of Louisiana, Washington and Nebraska will add more to their pile.

Following the Saturday showdown, both Clinton and Obama will make their pitch in the primaries of Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC next Tuesday, which will then be followed by the big ticket states of Ohio and Texas.

When asked what his role would be if his wife reached the Oval Office, Clinton said, "I will do what I'm asked to do. I will not be in the Cabinet. I will not be on the staff Full time. I will not in any way interfere with the work of a strong vice president, strong secretary of state, strong secretary of treasury".