Noontime yesterday and John Hume strolls through Enniskillen with a large retinue of canvassers, taking in the sunshine and the warm words and greetings from townspeople and visitors alike.
This election is solely about European issues, Mr Hume has insisted throughout the campaign.
But for many SDLP supporters a lot more is at stake. And it can all be distilled into one little and, for them, hugely important question: will he beat Ian Paisley?
Near the town centre he happily chats to two women who seem to be certain No 1 voters for him. As he moves on they jest: "Sure, we're only tourists here."
"You're no good so," jokes the local SDLP councillor, Eamon Flanagan, following behind, prompting Mr Hume to swivel on his feet and expostulate, "They're from Co Down".
The SDLP leader tries to convey the impression that the Hume-versus-Paisley battle is of secondary or limited importance, but he is conscious that every vote counts.
And while he won't acknowledge it, he also knows what it would mean to his party, to nationalism generally and to the Yes camp were he to attract the highest number of votes tomorrow. Mr Hume gets a very enthusiastic reception in Enniskillen. Schoolgirls at St Fanchea's secondary school chatter away happily in his company, inspecting his Nobel and Martin Luther King peace prize medals. At the EU-funded Enniskillen Enterprise Centre the talk is of using his European contacts to attract business.
As he walks past Dunnes Stores, up Belmore Street, past the cenotaph, scene of the Enniskillen bombing 12 years ago, and into the town centre people gather round to chat and shake his hand.
"We will be delighted to vote for you," says one woman accompanied by her daughter of voting age. As well as political support there's genuine personal concern for the man. "Look after yourself now, John," one man tells him. "Keep well," adds a woman.
Outside Pat's Bar a middle-aged man stops him to quietly say he has recently spoken to three of his unionist friends and they all agreed they would vote for him this time. "You're the only man bringing jobs to Northern Ireland," he says.
Mr Hume is delighted with the response. "If the results are as good as the reaction on the streets then it's looking very good," he says.
Mr Hume agrees that he would like to maximise his vote and top the poll, not to eclipse Ian Paisley but to prove that Northern Ireland supports Europe and the SLDP's avidly pro-European stance.
"Ian Paisley has tried to make this election a repeat of the referendum on the Good Friday agreement. I have made it clear that that is an insult to the intelligence of the electorate; this is strictly about European issues," Mr Hume declares.
Dr Paisley has said unionism would suffer a severe blow if he did not top the poll. The DUP leader has been Euro top dog since the first European Parliament election in 1979, but five years ago there were just over a thousand votes between him and Mr Hume.
Nationalists sense that this is Mr Hume's opportunity to put the cap on a momentous 12 months. Anne McQuillan, a veteran of the civil rights movements from Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh, put it very politely: "I think it would be a great boost for the Yes side were John to top the poll."
An Enniskillen man, Jim Lunney, at 78 surely one of the oldest canvassers tramping the roads on behalf of the SDLP, put it far more bluntly. "That's all I want, to see John beat Paisley."