Poland's presidential candidate Donald Tusk kept a small lead on the last day of campaigning before Sunday's election that pits the pro-business reformer against an advocate of a conservative "moral revolution".
Surveys showed today neither Mr Tusk nor his conservative rival, Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski, is likely to win outright, leading to a run-off ballot on October 23.
Mr Tusk's and Mr Kaczynski's parties trounced the scandal-tainted left in a general election two weeks ago and are now holding coalition talks, but they offer contrasting visions of Poland.
Soft-spoken Mr Tusk, 48, paints himself and his Civic Platform party as a force of modernisation that can unite Poles, mend relations with big neighbours Germany and Russia and anchor the ex-communist nation of 38 million in the European mainstream.
Mr Kaczynski, 56, and his Law and Justice party promise a clear break from post-communist Poland under the banner of the "Fourth Republic", "moral renewal" and a return to Christian values.
The two men, veterans of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement, are also at odds over the economy. Mr Tusk pledges greater economic freedom and less state interference, while his rival vows to protect worker rights and boost welfare.
"There is a fundamental difference between the vision of Poland where there is social solidarity and that of extreme economic liberalism," Mr Kaczynski told a news conference.
On foreign policy, Mr Kaczynski played on the lingering Polish fear of Germany, saying Berlin favoured close ties with Moscow rather than with fellow EU nation Poland.
Mr Tusk has portrayed himself as someone who can mend strained ties with Germany, focusing on his relations with leading politicians such as Angela Merkel, the possible next chancellor.
"It is worrisome that a Polish politician so frequently sees Berlin as the answer to questions about foreign policy," Mr Kaczynski said in a radio debate with Mr Tusk.