Bill Clinton said Wednesday he expects blacks will vote Obama and women to vote for his wife - and the dynamic may cause Hillary to lose Saturday’s important South Carolina Democratic primary.

The comments by the former president — who has lashed out at Barack Obama and the news media — mark one of the starkest commentaries yet on the underlying role of race in this election.

His recent outbursts have raised questions about how far is too far - and even led some observers to believe he has become a liability.

Bill Clinton: Asset or liability?

Voting for president along racial and gender lines “is understandable because people are proud when someone who they identify with emerges for the first time,” Bill Clinton said.

Such comments are just the latest round of what is becoming an increasingly contentious Obama-Clinton fight for the nomination.

Obama continues to blast Hillary Clinton’s candor and trustworthiness, saying the New York senator engages double-talk on many issues.

The tension rose when Clinton’s campaign aired a radio ad in South Carolina suggesting Obama approved of Republican ideas.

Barack Obama has been openly critical of Clinton - both of them.

The Illinois senator responded with his own radio spot that says, “Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected.”

A new tracking poll shows Obama leading by 15 percent in the Palmetto State ahead of the primary Saturday.

Is Bill Clinton going too far?