Brandon, SD - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended staying in the Democratic nominating contests Friday by saying that her husband did not wrap up the nomination until June 1992 and that, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

    Her remarks set off a torrent of criticism, and within hours of making them Mrs. Clinton expressed regrets, saying, "The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy. And I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive."

    Still, the comments touched on one of the most sensitive aspects of the current presidential campaign - concern for Senator Barack Obama's safety. And they come as Democrats have been talking increasingly of an Obama/Clinton ticket, with even former President Bill Clinton musing with associates about the possibility of his wife as vice president as the best path to the presidency if she loses the nominating fight.

    It was in the context of discussions about her political future that Mrs. Clinton made the remarks Thursday, in a meeting with the editorial board of the the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

    "People have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa," where she came in third, behind Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards, Mrs. Clinton said. When asked why that would be she said she did not know; primaries sometimes go on a long time and there was no reason she should give up hers prematurely.

    "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," Mrs. Clinton said, dismissing the idea of dropping out.

    Update, 8 p.m.: Our colleague Jeff Zeleny, who is traveling with Senator Obama, tells us:

    Mr. Obama learned about Mrs. Clinton's remarks as he rode in his motorcade from Miami to Sunrise, Fla., on Friday. He and his aides discussed the matter, but decided he would not address the comment when he arrived at an afternoon rally.

    Instead, to an audience of 16,000 people who filled the Bank Atlantic Center arena, Mr. Obama praised the candidacy of Mrs. Clinton and assured Democrats that their party would be united after the long primary campaign ended.

    Privately, aides to Mr. Obama were furious at the remark, particularly because his safety is a particularly sensitive issue. He was the first presidential candidate to receive Secret Service protection more than a year ago because of specific threats, none of which were disclosed.

    In an interview earlier this year, Mr. Obama said he was aware of the threats, but felt safe because of the Secret Service protection, which he pointed out was given to presidential candidates because of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

    "It's not something that I'm spending time thinking about day-to-day," Mr. Obama told The New York Times in February. "I made a decision to get into this race. I think anybody who decides to run for president recognizes that there are some risks involved, just like there are risks in anything."

    Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, which has refrained from engaging Mrs. Clinton in recent days, called Senator Clinton's statement "unfortunate and has no place in this campaign." And Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, an uncommitted superdelegate and the majority whip of the House of Representatives, said trough a spokeswoman, "This is beyond the pale."

    An aide to Mrs. Clinton said that she was simply using the Kennedy assassination as a benchmark to underscore that nomination fights can go a long time and that she was in no way implying anything else.

    "She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer," said Mo Elleithee, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign. "Any reading into it beyond that is outrageous."

    At Sunshine Foods here, Mrs. Clinton said the following:

    "Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June, in 1992 and 1968. And I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact.

    "The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy. And I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever. My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to. I am honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate, from the state of New York, and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family. Thank you."

    Time's Karen Tumulty noted tonight on the magazine's political blog that Mrs. Clinton made a similar remark during an interview published in March.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, defended her remarks in a telephone interview Friday evening. "I've heard her make that argument before," Mr. Kennedy said, speaking on his cell phone as he drove to the family compound in Hyannis for the holiday weekend. "It sounds like she was invoking a familiar historical circumstance in support of her argument for continuing her campaign."

    Mr. Kennedy said he has been traveling and had not seen the video or read Mrs. Clinton's comments, but said his support of Mrs. Clinton has not wavered.

    But he added that the protracted fight for the Democratic nomination would only last "two more weeks."

    "The candidate's going to emerge within the next two weeks, and the party will get behind them," Mr. Kennedy said.

    The Clinton campaign sent a statement from Randell Beck, the Argus Leader's Executive Editor, that sought to provide the context for Mrs. Clinton's remarks:

    The context of the question and answer with Senator Clinton was whether her continued candidacy jeopardized party unity this close to the Democratic convention. Her reference to Mr. Kennedy's assassination appeared to focus on the timeline of his primary candidacy and not the assassination itself.

    During the editorial board meeting Friday, Mrs. Clinton also denied reports of any contact with the Obama camp regarding an exit strategy for her, or discussions about becoming Mr. Obama's running mate.

    "It's flatly, completely untrue," she said, "It's not anything I'm entertaining, nothing I have planned, nothing I'm prepared to engaged in."

    But she also said, "I can't speak for the 17 million people who voted for me and I have a lot of supporters."

    Mrs. Clinton chalked up news accounts of any discussions between her camp and Mr. Obama's as "part of an ongoing effort to end this before it's over."