Senior Tory figures on the margins of the debate in Bristol last night were buoyant about their leader's performance, while a number of early opinion polls also scored it for the Conservative leader, whose campaign has been in trouble.
Urging voters not to support a hung parliament, Mr Cameron said he would work with whatever result offered on May 6th, but warned that it would cause problems for interest rate and international confidence.
Mr Brown's appeal to voters not to "do anything to endanger the recovery", Mr Cameron said, "sounded slightly desperate, it sounded like an attempt to frighten people instead of doing what I think we need to do . . . and make a clean break from the last 13 years".
The second debate may not have as much impact as the first held last week in Manchester, which was watched by 10 million people.
Hosted by Sky News and run simultaneously on the satellite BBC News Channel, it is unlikely to have been watched by more than three million.Mr Brown's allies, including foreign secretary David Miliband, were pleased at his performance during the 90-minute debate, which began with him telling voters if they wanted a TV popularity contest based on style and PR, "count me out".
Mr Brown launched a strong attack on Mr Cameron's sceptical attitude to the European Union, warning that it would damage the UK's influence and leave "an empty seat the table" and return to the days of "Little Britain", a phrase crafted to ignite memories of Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
In his final message to voters, Mr Cameron said it was clear the UK "wants change, but the question is what sort of change and who is best placed to lead that change. If you vote Conservative, you will get a new team running the country from May 7th and you won't be stuck with what you've got now." Responding to a question about Pope Benedict's visit to England and Scotland in September, all three leaders criticised the Catholic Church's handling of child abuse cases and yet, tried not to offend millions of Catholic voters.
Saying he was "not a man of faith", Mr Clegg said his Spanish wife is a Catholic and his children are brought up in that faith, adding that Catholics have "immense feelings of anguish" about the church's lack of openness.
Mr Brown and Mr Cameron clashed over Labour's claims that the Tories would cut a range of welfare benefits for pensioners if elected: "Politicians shouldn't say the word, 'lie' very often, but that is a lie," said Mr Cameron. However, Mr Brown insisted he had not authorised such claims to be made in Labour leaflets.