Video: Medvewhateva - what Hillary should have said

Hillary Clinton last night punched, kicked, scratched and mauled at Barack Obama - but failed to inflict enough damage to change the dynamic of a presidential contest before elections next week she must win to get her faltering White House run back on course.

In their 20th debate in the race for the Democratic nomination, Mrs Clinton was combative and determined throughout, repeatedly referring to herself as a "fighter" or prefacing remarks by saying - in a reference to Mr Obama's speeches - "I'm not just talking about it."

Her eyes glittered with aggression while she regularly pursed her lips, shook her head and folded her arms impatiently as her rival answered questions.

However, Mrs Clinton's attempts to argue that she would be stronger on foreign policy than her counterpart appeared to have been undermined when she stumbled over the name of the man expected to be Russia's next president, Dmitri Medvedev, while predicting that he would not be an independent leader.

When asked at a debate whether she knew the name of the chosen successor to President Putin, Mrs Clinton struggled to get it out, finally saying: “Medvedev - whatever."

Mr Obama, who also failed to pronounce his name, was tense but calm during the 90-minute exchange, staring down at his notes and sometimes smiling at her efforts to knock him off course.

Both sides knew the stakes were sky high in their final face-to-face appearance before Tuesday's votes in Ohio and Texas where Mr Obama's gathering momentum has seen him already close - or wipe out - Mrs Clinton's long-standing polling leads.

The first significant clash came with Mrs Clinton sounding sarcastic - even plaintive - as she vented some of the frustration that has been building within her campaign as Mr Obama scored 11 straight victories over her this month.

Citing a recent TV comedy sketch which parodied the media's allegedly fawning attitude to Mr Obama, she said: “Can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time?

"I do find it curious, and if anybody saw ‘Saturday Night Live,’ you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he’s comfortable and needs another pillow?”

Her aides later claimed this was an attempt at humour, but the jeers it drew from some sections of the audience suggested that the tone of resentment with which she delivered it had caused the joke to fall flat.

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