Dan Glaister, guardian.co.uk
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton talked each other to a stalemate in what the Clinton campaign hoped would offer a breakthrough for her ailing campaign.
On issues ranging from the economy to the war to immigration, the two demonstrated the closeness of their positions rather than any grand differences of policy.
It was only when the debate turned to the questions of character - in particular the Clinton campaign\'s attempt to exploit the revelation that Obama had used a supporter\'s words in his speeches - that the debate lit up.
"Lifting entire passages from someone else\'s speeches is not change you can believe in," she said, echoing an Obama campaign slogan. "It is change you can Xerox."
However, Clinton\'s attempts to push the issue appeared to backfire as the audience at the University of Texas erupted in boos.
Obama\'s response was to argue that it was a distraction from the issues that matter to voters.
"The notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who was one of my national co-chairs, who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think, is silly," he said. "This is where we start getting into silly season, in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged."
Clinton\'s best moment came at the end. Asked what had been the most testing moment I her life, she paused before responding: "I think everyone here knows I\'ve lived through some challenges and crises in my life," a reference to the Clinton presidency.
She went on to say that those crises were nothing compared to the challenges facing ordinary Americans and the soldiers returning from Iraq. Finally, she turned to her opponent and declared that she was honored to be sharing a platform with him.
"Whatever happens," she said, "we\'re going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we\'ll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that\'s what this election should be about."
That line brought the audience to its feet and an end to the debate.
Despite the lift for Clinton, however, it is unlikely she gained enough of an advantage to halt the momentum built by the Obama campaign.
Only two areas showed substantive differences between the two candidates: healthcare and the approach to Cuba\'s new leadership.
The conversation over their respective healthcare plans took up a large part of the debate, with both candidates resisting attempts by the moderators to move on. However, the differences between the two plans would have left most viewers, and voters, bemused.
The two candidates did however offer differing positions on their approach to Cuba\'s new leadership. Asked if they would be prepared to meet with the island\'s new leadership, the two echoed earlier positions.
Clinton made clear that she would set preconditions for any meeting, saying: "As president, I would be ready to reach out and work with a new Cuban government, once it demonstrated that it truly was going to change."
Obama, however, stuck to his previous position that he would talk to foes as well as allies, arguing that the change of leadership in Cuba offered an unprecedented opportunity.
"We now have an opportunity to potentially change the relationship between the United States and Cuba after over half a century. I would meet without preconditions," he said.
The two were also asked how they would cope with John McCain in the November general election. Obama said his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq would give him an advantage.
"It is going to be much easier for the candidate who was opposed to invading Iraq in the first place," he said.
He also claimed that his votes against the war showed that he had the ability to make decisions as commander-in-chief.
"In the single most important decision of our generation, the war in Iraq, I think I showed the judgment of a commander-in-chief and I think Senator Clinton was wrong in her judgment," he said.
The two candidates now face one final debate, in Ohio next Tuesday, before the critical Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4.
