DALLAS – The energy Hillary Rodham Clinton had hoped to carry into Dallas on Friday after a widely viewed debate was instead cast under a pall after a motorcycle officer accompanying her motorcade was killed in an accident

Clinton’s entourage of about eight vehicles had maneuvered around the tragic accident that killed Victor Lozada-Tiada on her way to greet about 1,000 supporters awaiting her at a Dallas area parking lot. She took the stage before learning that the accident had been fatal.

She touted her plan for universal health insurance and chided Texas for its failure to cover more people, especially children. She called the fact that 25 percent of Texans are uninsured, the highest percentage of any state, “a moral outrage and a national disgrace.”

Her 15-minute speech was her first foray into Dallas of the campaign year and stood in stark contrast to the outpouring of support that rival Barack Obama received in his initial visit this week.

He attracted more than 17,000 to Reunion Arena with lines snaking for blocks. Clinton’s fans waited in a parking lot off Zang Boulevard, a much smaller crowd, some of them huddled under outdoor heaters.

The dreary atmosphere fit the trend of the campaign for Clinton, who has lost 11 straight contests to Obama and faces must-win stakes in the March 4 Texas primary, the largest left on the calendar. Analysts generally agreed that she performed well in the debate Thursday in Austin but didn’t score enough points to slow Obama’s momentum. Polls show the contest in Texas in a dead heat.

Avoiding starkly political language, Clinton told the Dallas crowd that she has met Texans who have told her of problems facing Americans everywhere: a man in San Antonio facing his fifth deployment in Iraq and the McAllen woman working two jobs and still not offered employee health insurance or able to afford it for her children.

After her speech, Clinton was told that officer Lozada-Tiada had died, and she immediately placed a call to Dallas police Chief David Kunkle to offer her condolences and to inquire about the family.

Afterwards, Clinton offered somber words. “We are just heartsick over this loss of life in the line of duty,” she said. “This reminds us once again what our men and women in law enforcement do every single day.”

She traveled to Fort Worth, where another 1,000 gathered on Main Street for a downtown rally, but she apologized and explained that she was canceling the speech. “Because of this tragedy, I know you understand that we can’t have a rally. It would not be appropriate for me to take this opportunity as I had planned, to be with you to talk about the election,” she said.

She again praised the work of emergency personnel and said her prayers are with the family. A speaker at the Fort Worth rally said that as she left, the New York senator had promised to return to Fort Worth.

She then quietly returned to Dallas to offer her condolences to Lozada-Tiada’s family.

Hearing of the tragedy while campaigning in South Texas, Obama also issued a statement saying he was saddened by the news.

“This is a painful reminder of the risks our law enforcement officers undertake each day in the service of others, and why they deserve not only our gratitude, but our abiding respect and admiration,” he said.

Later in the day, Clinton departed for Ohio, but is likely to return to Texas for a lengthy tour of the state before March 4, when Ohio also votes.

In TV interviews Friday morning, she reiterated that a Texas win is critical for her prospects against Obama. She was asked about her closing remarks during the debate, when she seemingly entertained the notion that she could lose the race.

“I intend to win, obviously,” she said, adding that part of her statement was in, “recognition that both of us are on the brink of historic change.”

Asked if a loss in Texas and Ohio could deal fatal blows to her campaign, as former President Bill Clinton has said, she demurred.

“I don’t make predictions,” she said. “I never have, I never will, I just get up every day and do the best I can to let people know what I have done, what I am doing and what I will do.”