In her February 1 New York Times article on former President Bill Clinton's role in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign, reporters Katharine Q. Seelye and Raymond Hernandez wrote that “Mr. Clinton thrust himself into his wife's campaign ... with remarks that various Democratic officials have labeled racial and divisive.” Simply asserting that “various Democratic officials have labeled” remarks Bill Clinton has made as “racial,” Seelye and Hernandez neither identified the remarks to which they were purportedly referring, nor noted that the Clinton campaign has vigorously disputed the accusation that Bill Clinton made “racial” comments.

Reporting on a January 27 Clinton press conference the day following the South Carolina primary, the Washington Post's Anne E. Kornblut noted that “Clinton denied that her husband had been adding to harmful divisions within the Democratic party with recent statements about Sen. Barack Obama. In fact, Clinton said, her husband was someone who 'brought our country together' when he was president. He was, she said, a president who sought to 'repair the breaches and mend the divides' between blacks and whites by defending affirmative action and creating a commission on civil rights.”

On the January 31 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson dismissed the notion that Clinton injected race into the election. Co-host Mika Brzezinski asked: “Is [Bill Clinton] being mischaracterized in the press. Or what do you make of what's going on?” Wolfson replied: “I think the notion that Bill Clinton tried to inject race into the campaign is untrue. This is a man who has spent his entire life bringing people together, crossing the divides in our nation, and I reject completely the notion that he was engaged in anything like that.”

In addition, of Bill Clinton's January 26 comment that "[Rev.] Jesse Jackson won in South Carolina twice, in '84 and '88, and he ran a good campaign, and Senator [Barack] Obama's [D-IL] running a good campaign here, he's run a good campaign everywhere," Seelye herself noted in a January 28 post on the Times' political blog The Caucus that Jackson said that he did not “read anything negative into Clinton's observation.” The post also quoted Jackson saying: “Bill has done so much for race relations and inclusion, I would tend not to read a negative scenario into his comments.”

From the February 1 New York Times article:

The red-faced, finger-wagging Bill Clinton has left the campaign trail.

The new Bill Clinton, playing to crowds in New Mexico, New Jersey and Ohio, is earnest and on script, telling crowds to vote for his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, in the 22 Democratic presidential nominating contests Tuesday.

No criticism of her rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. And no extemporaneous interviews with the news media. Staff members have shooed reporters away from the rope lines where hundreds of people line up to shake the former president's hand and pose for pictures.

But even as the campaign reins in Mr. Clinton, his statements from last week in the heat of the South Carolina primary are reverberating among some Democratic voters.

People like Nancy Sabato, 45, a graphic designer who lives in South Orange, N.J., said they had been befuddled as they watched Mr. Clinton thrust himself into his wife's campaign and steal the show with remarks that various Democratic officials have labeled racial and divisive.

In the process, Mr. Clinton also raised the specter of a co-presidency and the possibility that if Mrs. Clinton could not control him on the campaign trail, she could not control him back in the White House.

“He's very smart, and that's why it's a little surprising,” Ms. Sabato said as her 3-year-old daughter tugged at her coat. “Now she's in a no-win situation. He's got a big personality, he's a former president, and he's going to be a big presence no matter what.”

Democratic officials, too, have been worried. The former president's prominent role on the campaign trail has left some voters wondering “who is running,” said Nancy DiNardo, the state Democratic chairwoman in Connecticut.

“He has to be careful not to eclipse her, to overshadow her, so that she is her own person,” Ms. DiNardo said. “I do believe he needs to step back and let her be the candidate.”

[...]

Among party leaders, there is a concern that Mr. Clinton's bad week could have long-lasting consequences, polarizing the party and dampening grass-roots enthusiasm as Democrats try to win back the White House this fall.

“That's what you jeopardize with this type of sniping,” Mr. [Rep. John] Yarmuth [D-KY] said.

Still, Mrs. Clinton could benefit from Mr. Clinton's deep well of support.

“I hope he's a little more careful,” said Ms. Sabato, the graphic designer. “You want her to have a fair shot without him saying something that hurts her. Though I love her. And I voted for him.”

From the January 31 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

WOLFSON: Look, I think that throughout the entirety of this campaign, the president has been our best surrogate. He tells Hillary's story better than anyone because he has known her the longest and, you know, he is out and about all across the country, drawing very large crowds -- he had 5,000 people yesterday. And we're going to continue to --

JOE SCARBOROUGH (host): So it's not you --

BRZEZINSKI: Well, wait. Howard, you say he tells Hillary's story better than anyone. Is he being mischaracterized in the press, or what do you make of what's going on? Because it sounds like somebody has asked him to maybe --

WOLFSON: You know, I would say this. I would -- I appreciate the question. I think the notion that Bill Clinton tried to inject race into the campaign is untrue. I think this is a man who has spent his entire life bringing people together, crossing the divides in our nation, and I reject completely the notion that he was engaged in anything like that.

SCARBOROUGH: Do you think people are being too sensitive -- overly sensitive on the race issue here?

WOLFSON: Well, I'm not -- look, I'm not going to say that. I'm just going to speak up on behalf of the president because he is somebody who cares deeply about these issues. He is somebody who has worked his whole life to bring people together, to bridge divides, and I know him. I know what's in his heart. And you know, you don't have to look at -- you don't have to listen to me. You can look at the man's public record over a lifetime. This is not somebody who has done anything other than bring people together.

SCARBOROUGH: All right. Hey, Howard, good luck tonight. It's going to be a heck of a debate. One-on-one.

WOLFSON: It's going to be great.

SCARBOROUGH: Don't you think that's going to be exciting?