No one would want to be in Julia Gillard's shoes if she loses tomorrow. And if Tony Abbott is defeated, he won't want to be in his own shoes.
The last few hours of an election campaign - one that appears this close - are for the players a mix of hope and dread, an extraordinary physical and psychological test in which relief that the endurance feat is almost over mingles with the knowledge that for one or other, Sunday morning will see, in Kris Kristofferson's words, ''the disappearing dreams of yesterday''.
For Gillard and Labor, a loss would be far more devastating than any that federal Labor has suffered in a generation. A Liberal defeat, even if seats had been gained, would be a hard blow for the driven personality of Abbott. For the party - unless the margin was slender - it would be the beginning of a period of internal change, pain and instability.
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