No significant exchanges transpired during the last Democratic presidential debate before the Iowa caucus that will likely change the candidates’ chances of victory in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

All eyes were on leading candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as their Iowa poll numbers have become increasingly close in the run-up to the January 3 caucus. But the debate, hosted by the Des Moines Register, offered them few opportunities to draw contrasts between each other’s campaigns.

Many of the questions were open-ended and allowed the candidates to respond with broad, sweeping statements. Examples of these questions included “what are your New Year’s resolutions?” and “what would you do your first year as president?”

The most pointed question Clinton entertained came during a portion of the debate devoted to “character and leadership.”

Des Moines Register Editor and moderator Carolyn Washburn noted many thought Clinton’s approach to healthcare reform as First Lady was “too closed and secretive.”

“Some Iowans are worried that your presidency would operate the same way,” Washburn said. “As president how would you ensure your administration would not withhold information from the public even if it would give ammunition to your critics?”

Clinton said she didn’t have a strong communications strategy as First Lady and that as president she would “have an open and transparent government” and that she would “put as much as we can on the internet.”

“Let’s use it, let’s have as much sunlight as we can possibly gather,” Clinton said. Continued...