Clinton takes swipe at Obama's integrity

Clinton, needing a boost, accuses Obama of 'lifting whole passages' from a speech by a supporter. But the two agree on much

After a collegial 45 minutes where they acted more like running mates than rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama turned combative in their debate in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, with Clinton all but accusing Obama of plagiarism and deriding his political message as "change you can Xerox."

Clinton, who is girding for March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio that aides say she must win, veered from polite to pointed as she challenged the originality of Obama's oratory and ideas.

Obama, who has won the last 10 state contests and has a lead in delegates for the Democratic nomination, tried to stay positive, though he did blame his opponent for fostering a "silly season" of attack politics.

In response to a debate panelist's question, Clinton cited news reports about Obama's nearly verbatim use of remarks by a close ally of his, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. She noted that Obama had drawn great praise for his speeches, then questioned whether they were authentic or plagiarized.

Playing off a trademark line of Obama's, she said: "Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in. It's change you can Xerox."

Obama, speaking somewhat softly over Clinton, chided her for the remark, and then noted that the similarities to Patrick's remarks were limited to a few lines -- adding that Patrick, a member of his campaign team, had encouraged him to use the comments.

"The notion that I plagiarized from one of my national co-chairs, who gave me the line and encouraged me to use it, is silly," Obama said.

Clinton entered the debate, which took place at the University of Texas at Austin, needing to regain her political footing after a streak of 10 Obama victories in the most recent nominating contests.

During the debate, Clinton sought to undermine her rival's stature by referring to an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday night -- much replayed on cable news and on the Internet -- in which a Texas official supporting Obama could not cite a major legislative accomplishment of the candidate.

"I do think that words are important and words matter, but I think actions speak louder than words, and I offer that," Clinton said.

Defending his record in the Senate, Obama pushed back against Clinton, suggesting that she was insulting the intelligence of the millions of people who had voted for him, attended his rallies and watched their debates.

"Sen. Clinton of late has said, 'Let's get real,' " Obama said. "The implication is that the people voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional."

Courting Hispanics

In heavily Hispanic Texas, the two candidates agreed over and over on their support for immigration reform.

Clinton defended her support for building a physical barrier along the border with Mexico -- noting twice that Obama voted for it as well -- but at the same time she called for a review of the project, which, she said, had become "absurd" under the Bush administration.

Obama almost entirely echoed her remarks. He also drew applause with his own shot at Bush.

"The Bush administration is not good at listening -- it's not something they do well," Obama said.

Both candidates also agreed that no aspect of a bilingual culture has been bad for America.

"I think it's important for a lot of Americans to do what I have never been able to do -- learn another language," Clinton said.

At the same time, though she noted that she opposed making English the official national language, she said it should remain a "common unifying" language for all Americans.