Democratic Party presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in a debate Thursday in Texas. There was more agreement on issues than clashes over differences.

民主黨總統候選人提名競爭者希拉里.克林頓和巴拉克.奧巴馬星期四在德克薩斯州進行了辯論。他們在辯論中對許多問題更多地表示了一致而不是相互對立的看法。

The debate, on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, was marked more by broad agreement on policy issues from immigration to health care; from the war in Iraq to this week's resignation by Cuban president Fidel Castro. But there were a few contentious moments. One came when Senator Obama was asked about charges that he had stolen phrases from a speech by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, using them in his own speeches without attribution.

在德克薩斯州立大學奧斯丁分校舉行的這次辯論當中，兩位民主黨總統候選人提名競爭者在移民、醫療保健制度改革、伊拉克戰爭、本星期古巴領導人卡斯特羅辭職等一系列問題上表示了相當一致的看法。但是，辯論當中也出現幾個激烈爭辯的場面。奧巴馬參議員被問道，他從馬薩諸塞州州長帕特里克的一篇講演當中“盜用”了幾個說法用在自己的講話當中。

"The notion that I had plagiarized from someone who is one of my national co-chairs, who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think is silly," he said.

他回答說：“一個人是我的全國競選班子的共同主席之一，他把一些說法給了我，建議我使用。我使用了，就說我是盜用，這種說法我覺得實在是愚蠢。”

Senator Clinton followed up by saying that if a candidate bases his campaign on words, they should be his own.

希拉里.克林頓接著說，假如一個候選人把自己的競選建立在言辭的基礎上，那么其言詞就應當是他自己的：

"There is no doubt that you are a passionate, eloquent speaker and I applaud you for that, but when you look at what we face in this country. We do need to unite the country, but we have to unite it for a purpose around very specific goals," she said.

“毫無疑問，你是一個富有激情、雄辯的演說家，我為你喝彩。但是，面對我們國家的現狀，我們需要團結全國，我們必須圍繞一些非常具體的問題把全國團結起來。”

In the sharpest attack in the debate, Clinton said that Obama's message was not "change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox" -- a reference to a well-known photo copy machine. The line fell flat, however, and drew boos from the audience.

在這次辯論當中，希拉里.克林頓對奧巴馬發動了一次最嚴厲的攻擊。她說，奧巴馬的競選競選口號“諸位可以信任的變革”實際意思不過是“諸位可以用復印機復印的變革”而已。但是，希拉里.克林頓的這句話沒有達到目的。辯論會會場的聽眾對她喝倒彩。

In another exchange, the two candidates sparred over who would be the most ready to assume the position of commander in chief.

在另外一次辯論交鋒中，兩位候選人就誰最有能力擔當全國武裝部隊總司令的問題進行了爭辯。
Clinton emphasized her experience over the past seven years in the senate and cited an Obama supporter who had trouble coming up with a single accomplishment by the Illinois senator.

希拉里.克林頓強調她過去7年中在參議院的經驗，并說奧巴馬的一個支持者不能明確指出奧巴馬有任何一項政績。

Obama said he believed he was ready to take on the responsibilities of the presidency and he noted that every major newspaper in Texas has endorsed him. In response to a question on how he would confront the probable Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, a decorated war veteran, Obama noted that McCain had supported the war in Iraq, while he, Obama, had opposed it.

奧巴馬說，他認為他有能力承擔總統職責。他說，德克薩斯州的所有大報都發社論對他表示支持。在回答有關他會如何應對很有可能成為共和黨總統候選人的麥凱恩參議員這個著名的老兵這個問題的時候，奧巴馬說，麥凱恩支持伊拉克戰爭，而他反對伊拉克戰爭。

"It is going to be much easier for the candidate who was opposed to the concept of invading Iraq in the first place to have a debate about the wisdom of that decision than to have to argue about the tactics used subsequent to that decision," he said.

Asked about her criticism of the U.S. military surge in Iraq, Clinton said achieving progress by adding more U.S. troops is not the result the United States should be seeking.

"Upon taking office, I would ask the Secretary of Defense and the Joints Chief of Staff and my security advisors to give me a plan so that I could begin withdrawing our troops within 60 days," she said.

One of the best moments for both candidates came at the end when they were asked to describe a crisis they had faced. Obama spoke of being raised by a single mother and overcoming challenges as a youth. Clinton said the crises she has faced are well known, but that these were nothing compared to the difficulties faced by soldiers who have been maimed in combat overseas and the problems faced by workers, homeowners and people in need of health insurance.

Clinton once held a large lead here in Texas and in Ohio, the other large state which holds its primary on March 4, but Obama has won the last 19 contests in a row and has now pulled even with her in the polls. Analysts agree that Clinton needs wins in both states in order to remain viable, whereas Obama only needs to maintain his momentum to stay in the lead.