Clinton distances herself from Geraldine Ferraro remarks

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," Ferraro told a newspaper in California. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept," she said.

The Obama campaign called on Sen. Clinton to denounce the remarks, but Sen. Clinton used different language in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday. "I do not agree with that," Clinton said. "It's regrettable that any of our supporters -- on both sides, because we both have this experience -- say things that kind of veer off into the personal."

Clinton's remarks were apparently an attempt to remind listeners that Samantha Power, one of Sen. Obama's advisers, called Clinton a "monster" last week. She immediately resigned from her position.

Geraldine Ferraro, a former New York congresswoman who was Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984, is a Clinton supporter and fundraiser. Obama's campaign had called for Ferraro to be removed from her position on the campaign, but no word of such a move has been reported.

"We ought to keep this on the issues," said Sen. Clinton. "There are differences between us" on issues, she said.

Sen. Obama also weighed in on the controversy, describing Ferraro's comments as "patently absurd" and "divisive."

"The bottom line is this, when you wink and nod at offensive statements, you're really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes," Obama aide David Axelrod said on Tuesday.