Hillary Clinton was booed last night when she accused her Democratic rival Barack Obama of plagiarism, saying that he represented not 'change you can believe in' but 'change you can Xerox'.

Mr Obama dismissed the charge out of hand at a debate last night, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be doing is tearing each other down, we should be lifting the country up."

The New York senator said that when Mr Obama borrowed words from another politician's speech last week he had undermined his candidacy. She had clearly rehearsed the line, which mocked an Obama campaign slogan, but immediately looked as though she regretted using it.

Mrs Clinton was relying on a strong performance in their duel in Austin after losing 11 primary contests in a row to her young challenger.

She has previously prospered in the debates – there have been 19 in all – where her command of policy detail comes across well.

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In New Hampshire a robust debate performance helped her to victory. She is hoping for the same effect in Texas, which holds its primary on Mar 4, but she failed to land any significant blows on her opponent, who spent a day and a half preparing for last night.

The latest poll brought more bad news for Mrs Clinton, with Mr Obama drawing level in Texas and closing the gap in Ohio, which votes on the same day.

His command of domestic and foreign policy has improved noticeably since early debates, when he tended to stumble over facts and came across as callow.

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