The Hiller Instinct: Candidates Make Final Push

Mitt romney (R) Gubernatorial Candidate
"Shannon O'Brien does not support the death penalty. I do."

And Romney knows polls show a majority of state voters do, too. So he thinks he has a winning argument when he points to the serial murders near Washington, D.C.

Mitt Romney
"Had those tragic crimes occurred in this area, we would not be able to subject these individuals that committed these crimes to the death penalty, and we would instead be sentencing them to a life in prison."

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D)-MA
"I like him, he's a very pleasant person, but he's not qualified to be governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

Ted Kennedy spoke for Shannon O'Brien at an event aimed at reinforcing her TV ads charging Romney puts profits before people. Some of the same Ampad workers who helped Kennedy beat Romney in 1994 want to help O'Brien beat him now.

Randy Johnson, Former Ampad Employee
"I'm here to tell you, you can't trust him. He hasn't come forward to help us one bit and that's all it would have taken."

O'Brien chimed in this afternoon.

Shannon O'Brien (D) Gubernatorial Candidate
"Most importantly, he was profiting from the investments that Bain was making, and the decisions that Bain was making to hurt workers, to cut jobs, to take away their benefits."

Mitt Romney
"To suggest that I'm in any way involved with it is not true. And she knows it's not true."

Everybody knows what is true.

Mitt Romney
"I guess when a campaign is dead even, which is what most people say the polls are suggesting -- the WHDH poll said that -- why almost anything becomes pivotal."

But nothing will be more pivotal than tomorrow night's debate, the final Romney - O'Brien face-off before the election. It's not a stretch to say this race could be won or lost tomorrow night, because the debate could influence so many undecided voters to decide.