Politics | Bill Clinton Bill Admits He Is Unlike 'Any Other Spouse' Playing offense for Hillary was inapt, ex-prez says By Jonas Oransky Posted Feb 8, 2008 2:21 PM CST Copied Former President Bill Clinton speaks on behalf of his wife, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Friday, Feb. 8, 2008, at Dillard University in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Associated Press) Bill Clinton said yesterday he took the wrong approach in defending his wife before the South Carolina primary. “The mistake that I made is to think that I was a spouse like any other spouse," he said in an interview with a TV reporter in Maine. "I can promote Hillary but not defend her, because I was president." The ex-leader of the free world told WCSH of Portland that he “learned a valuable lesson from all that dust-up.” He added the campaign was not his, and the presidency would not be his: “I don’t want to be the story.” Clinton rejected charges he personally attacked Barack Obama, saying "I never criticized him personally." Read These Next North Carolina shooting suspect once walked the red carpet. The gunman who killed 4 at a Michigan church was an ex-marine. 'We heard a big bang,' says churchgoer in Michigan Skydivers leap from plane 2 minutes before fatal crash. Report an error