Debate was a nudge match

It was billed as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s last chance to revive her flagging campaign, and she gave it her best shot.

For 90 minutes in Cleveland on Tuesday night, Clinton stung coolly and repeatedly at Barack Obama’s weak spots, employing everything in her arsenal -- from her confident command of world affairs to a frosty smile that flickered every time she was displeased with his answers.

But with a week left to go before the critical primary votes in Ohio and Texas, Clinton had to do more than chip away at Obama.

To shake up her faltering campaign, she needed to shake him up.

She nudged him about his healthcare coverage. She questioned his judgment on backing unilateral raids on Al Qaeda in Pakistan. She even tried a subtle new tack to spin her controversial vote approving the invasion of Iraq by suggesting that Obama’s opposition had come without consequences because he was not in federal public office.

Yet judging from Obama’s unruffled composure and measured responses through much of the debate, that moment of truth never came. Parrying Clinton on Iraq, he reminded her that he had made his decision on the war in the midst of a “high-stakes” Senate campaign.

Obama was playing out the clock, and while he did not walk away unscathed from the debate, the damage Clinton inflicted was minor.

“No runs, no hits, no errors,” said veteran Democratic political strategist Bill Carrick, who is not aligned with either candidate. “They both drew blood, but they did it cautiously. That was perfectly fine for Obama, but Hillary needed something more dramatic. She didn’t get it.”

It was not for lack of trying. From the first seconds of the debate, Clinton was on the offensive, complaining that Obama had sent out “very disturbing” fliers and mailers mischaracterizing her healthcare plan and her position on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“It’s important that you stand up for yourself and you point out these differences,” she said.

Both Clinton and Obama were tipped off balance by tough questions from MSNBC moderators Tim Russert and Brian Williams.

Obama stuttered a response when Russert asked whether he would renounce support from Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has spoken glowingly of his candidacy in recent days. Reminding the Cleveland State University audience and national cable viewers that Farrakhan had once called Judaism a “gutter religion,” Russert pressed Obama for an answer.

Referring to Farrakhan as “Minister Farrakhan,” Obama hedged about whether he would reject his support. Finally, after Clinton interjected that she would reject any such support, Obama conceded: “If the word ‘reject’ Sen. Clinton feels is stronger than the word ‘denounce,’ then I’m happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce.”

“Excellent,” Clinton chimed in.

It was a moment that may not cause trouble for Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries Tuesday. But his hesitancy could provide an opening for Republicans eager to whittle away Jewish support and sow doubts about his commitment to Israel.

But Clinton had her own troubles staying afloat under tough questions from Russert about her unwillingness to release her income tax files and more than 10,000 pages of documents from her days as first lady.

When Russert asked if she would move before Tuesday’s primaries to have the material available, Clinton demurred. “Well, I can’t get it together by then, but I will certainly work to get it together,” she said. “I’m a little busy right now; I hardly have time to sleep.”

Near the end of the debate, Obama moved aggressively to provide the same sort of valedictory moment that Clinton had given during the last debate, in Austin, Texas. But coming from Obama, who has the momentum now and appears to be neck and neck with Clinton in that state and Ohio, the remarks did not have any of Clinton’s seeming wistfulness and fatalism detected last week by many commentators.

Even as he complimented her as a “magnificent public servant,” Obama appeared to be thanking Clinton from his newfound position of strength, dispensing a front-runner’s graciousness.

“She would be worthy as a nominee,” Obama said obligingly. Then he added the kicker. “Now, I think I’d be better. . . . “

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steve.braun@latimes.com

Times staff writer Michael Finnegan in Cleveland contributed to this report.