Clinton accused Obama of doing too much complaining after he spent most of the ABC debate on the defensive over his political and religious links and his comments that small-town Pennsylvanians are bitter and cling to guns and religion. But he recovered on Friday in North Carolina by using hip-hop moves taken from rap mogul Jay-Z that had a crowd - liberally peppered with white women, supposedly Hillary's grassroots - on their feet cheering.
Drawing shrieks of laughter from a crowd in Raleigh, as he dived south briefly from Pennsylvania for an event ahead of the North Carolina primary on 6 May, Obama joked about the debate. He bit his lip, gave one of his wide, electric grins, and mimed a hand stabbing with a dagger, saying: 'Hillary looked in her element. Y'know, that's her right, to twist the knife a little bit.'
Then he mimed brushing dirt off each shoulder, a move that Jay-Z, one of his musical heroes, uses to dismiss the negative sentiments of anyone ill-disposed towards him or what he stands for. The crowd went wild and commentators declared it a seminal moment in the campaign, combining his charisma, feel for popular culture, youth and resilience.
Clinton had earlier declared: 'I'm with Harry Truman on this - if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen ... just speaking for myself, I am very comfortable in the kitchen.'
Obama was effectively saying: 'I am, too - name your kitchen'.
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