Clinton, Obama step back from race flap

Trying to ‘knock us off message’
Campaigning in Nevada, Obama, said some of his opponents "don't seem to have anything positive to say about their own record. All they're trying to do is run me down."

Obama, seeking to become the first black president, didn't mention Clinton by name. But the reference was unmistakable after controversy over race and the Iraq war and as her campaign arranged a conference call to criticize his record on abortion.

In an interview on NBC, he was said the former first lady's campaign was seeking to stoke the race-related controversy. "I think there's some intentionality on the part of the Clinton campaign to knock us off message," he said.

Rangel's remarks were the second critical of Obama in as many days by a black surrogate campaigner. On Sunday, businessman Robert Johnson appeared to make a veiled reference to Obama's self-disclosed drug use as a youth — although he quickly disputed that was his intent.

Clinton: ‘We have to bring our party together’
The former first lady did not mention the campaign's increasingly combative tone as she campaigned in New York.

"Both Senator Obama and I know we are where we are today because of leaders like Dr. King," Clinton said at a labor-sponsored birthday celebration in honor of the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. "We have to bring our party together and our country together."

Next up for the Democrats were precinct caucuses Saturday in Nevada. There, Clinton's supporters awaited a court ruling on a lawsuit seeking a last-minute change in rules they agreed to months ago. Their objective was to prevent several caucuses along the Las Vegas Strip, where thousands of Culinary Workers Union employees — many of them Hispanic or black — hold jobs.

Submit a debate question Click here to send your question for Tuesday, Jan. 15th's Democatic candidates' debate in Las Vegas, Nev., to be seen on MSNBC and MSNBC.com from 6-8 p.m. PST.

The rules were approved in March, when the former first lady was the overwhelming national front-runner in the race. But the union voted last week to endorse Obama, and the lawsuit followed.

Edwards is campaigning aggressively in both Nevada and South Carolina, and his aides circulated a memo during the day saying both his rivals were "deeply flawed." It said both Clinton and Obama might be unable to win the White House in November, and that Edwards, alone, was strong enough to fight the Republicans and corporate interests all the way to victory.

Origins of a dustup
Obama's comments about the attacks on him came in Nevada several days after race became a subject of controversy in his contest with Clinton, who is trying to become the first woman to win the Oval office.

Video Media behind race flap? Jan. 14: MSNBC's Dan Abrams argues the media invented a race war to bait Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams

The issue flared after Clinton said it had taken President Lyndon B. Johnson, a white politician, to finally realize King's dream of racial equality by signing the Civil Rights Act. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and the highest-ranking black member of Congress, expressed unhappiness over that as well as remarks her husband, former President Clinton, had made that were critical of Obama.

The former president has made several appearances on black radio programs to ease concerns, while his wife appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and accused Obama's campaign of distorting her comments.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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