Hillary Clinton Defends Husband's Role in Campaign

Jan. 25, 2008 — -- One day before voters go to the polls in South Carolina's hotly contested Democratic primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton took on a more subdued tone and defended her husband's role in her campaign.

"He obviously is a passionate advocate for my cause, as are the wives of my two major opponents," Clinton told ABC News' Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America."

"But I think all of us need to just take a deep breath here because obviously we know we will have a united Democratic Party when this nomination is determined," she said.

The New York senator's campaign got a small boost overnight when she won the endorsement of The New York Times' editorial board.

However, the newspaper's editorial pleaded with the senator to tone down what has become a bloody primary battle between her and her leading Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

"As strongly as we back her candidacy, we urge Mrs. Clinton to take the lead in changing the tone of the campaign. It is not good for the country, the Democratic Party or Mrs Clinton. (Indeed, Bill Clinton's overheated comments are feeding those resentments, and could do long-term damage to her candidacy if he continues this way.)" read the New York Times editorial.

Clinton told Roberts she agreed with the editorial and wanted to set a new tone.

"I want to set the tone for the kind of campaign we're having. I really want this to be about the future, about what's going to happen to the people watching us this morning, what's going to happen to our kids and really, how we're going to restore American and our leadership around the world," she said.

Highlighting her work on behalf of women, children and civil rights, Clinton said, "this election is both an extraordinary opportunity and really a celebration of how far we've come as a nation."

"It's also a great chance for us individually to draw the contrasts and comparisons that are totally fair," she said calmly, "but to be really focused on the differences that the Democrats will make as opposed to what we've had for the last seven years, and I think that's what Americans want to hear about."