Clinton jabs Obama over plagiarism charge
Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."
The debate audience booed.
Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting.
The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.
She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama — including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard — and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even some of Clinton's own supporters conceded she needs victories in both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. Rhode Island and Vermont also vote that day.
Clinton and Obama articulated well-worn campaign themes in the opening moments of the encounter, she stressing years of experience, and he underscoring a need for a change in the way business is done in Washington.
"I offer a lifetime of experience and proven results," she said, adding that "if we work together, if we take on the special interests," the lives of middle-class Americans would improve.
Obama, too, scorned the power of special interests. "The problem we have is that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die.... They go to die in Washington because too many politicians are interested in scoring political differences rather than bridging differences get things done."
The Democrats have had at least 18 debates and forums of the campaign, a series that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.
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The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.
In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. NBC's delegate count has Obama with 1,168 and Clinton with 1,018 and does not include superdelegates. It takes 2,025 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.
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