NEW YORK - The truce in a racially-tinged clash between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama was “the right thing” for the Democratic presidential rivals to do because the close contest between the two candidates is not about race or gender, former President Bill Clinton said.

The two White House hopefuls, vying for black voters, toned down their rhetoric over race on Monday, seeking to smooth over a clash that was dividing their party that has prided itself on standing up for minority rights. 

“First of all, it looks like the nominee of the Democratic Party is going to be an African-American man or a woman,” Clinton said during a radio call-in show hosted by activist Rev. Al Sharpton. “Both are historic and, as far as I can tell, neither one of them are losing votes because of their race or gender. They may be getting some votes because of their race or gender, but they’re not losing any, and that’s a good thing for America.  

“They have differences in background, approach and record and positions in this election and those ought to be debated,” he said. “America ought to pick the person they think to be the best president, but I think that we don’t want to play into the Republicans’ hands by crippling either one of them by making this race about something it’s not, and I think they did the right thing for the country.”

The war of words erupted when Clinton made comments that some interpreted as downgrading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in passing the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act while giving the bulk of the credit to then-President Lyndon Johnson.  Clinton accused Obama of distorting her remarks.

“I’ve been a little concerned about the tenor of the campaign over the last few days,” Obama said in Reno, Nevada. “We share the same goals, we are all Democrats, we all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights.” 

The same day, the former first lady took a similar tone in an address to union and church members in New York at an event surrounding King’s birthday.

“Each of us, no matter who we are or where we started from, is a beneficiary of Dr. King,” she said. “Both Sen. Obama and I know that we are where we are today because of leaders like Dr. King and generations of men and women like all of you.”

Both candidates are courting black voters ahead of the nominating contest in South Carolina, where a high proportion of those expected to vote in the Democratic primary are black.    

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

– Photo credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (Clinton during a campaign event in Nevada.)