STOUGHTON -- Deval L. Patrick had barely made his way through the door of the downtown movie theater, where a packed house of cheering supporters was waiting to greet him yesterday morning, when a couple of nurses stopped him.

Why didn't he support their bill to increase nurse staffing ratios?

His brow furrowed.

``Hey, it's the same thing I've been saying all along," he said, explaining that he supported a compromise version. ``I get the concerns about safety."

Being the front-runner can be dangerous. Questions like the one about the nursing bill come out of the blue. Appearances like his flat performance at the televised debate Wednesday get magnified. Testy exchanges with rivals lead to questions about his ability to take a punch if he makes it to the general election campaign.

In his closing week of the primary campaign, Patrick has seemed bent on avoiding controversy, protecting his lead, and making sure his voters turn out Tuesday. He limited his appearances to mostly friendly stops aimed at turning out the vote -- greeting commuters at the Ashmont MBTA station in Dorchester and thanking union supporters at the SEIU 509 headquarters in Watertown on Thursday, for example.

Yesterday, in the first of three speeches to large groups of supporters in Stoughton, New Bedford, and Brookline, Patrick seemed confident, if a little tense.

``We have built an extraordinary campaign, the likes of which Massachusetts has never seen," he said. ``It's not done until the voters say it's done, but I feel very good about the momentum we have."

At Wednesday's debate, Patrick faced an hour of interrogation by his opponents, Thomas F. Reilly and Christopher Gabrieli, that at times left him scowling or uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

The day after, he tried to deflect criticism of his debate appearance by suggesting the question was rooted in the kind of political thinking that he is trying to change.

``My participation in the debate, believe it or not, was not a performance," he said, archly, when pressed. ``It was an opportunity to offer voters clarity about my own views and to draw some distinctions between myself and the other candidates. And I think we had a chance to do that."

For the most part, Patrick and his team are banking on what they describe as an extraordinary grass- roots effort that has identified more than 100,000 supporters across the state through its Internet, canvassing, and telephone efforts, including 40,000 names sent in by volunteers between Wednesday evening and midday Friday.

Patrick said he spends so much time talking about his grass- roots campaign because it describes his approach to governing. His campaign, he said, is about changing the culture on Beacon Hill with renewed citizen participation.

Yesterday, Patrick added a new bit to his stump speech that seemed to be a response to Gabrieli, who repeatedly said last week that Patrick, while a talented orator, lacks specific plans for governing.

``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,' " Patrick said. ``Just words? `We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Just words? `Ask not what your country can do for you.' Just words? `I have a dream.' Just words?

``Listen, I'm no Dr. King, let me say it before you do," he told his audience, to laughter. `` But I do know that well-chosen words, spoken with conviction, can be a call to action."

Later, however, Patrick said it wasn't intended to be a defense of his campaign rhetoric.

``What I'm talking about is what it takes to lead," he said.

After his speech in Stoughton, Patrick posed for a dozen pictures with his fans, accepted a charcoal portrait of himself from a Stoughton supporter, listened patiently as a woman outlined her concerns about a condo development in town, nodded as yet another fellow urged him not to forget to call into the drive-time radio stations.

The longer he stayed, the larger the ebullient crowd around seemed to grow.

``I know we're going to win on Tuesday," said Beverly Harris, 61, a grandmother and volunteer from Stoughton. ``We're going to win again in November. I'm going to that ball in January."

Deval Patrick

Favorite movie: Life is Beautiful.

Favorite article of clothing: A pair of old Gap loose-fit jeans. ‘‘They’re old.’’

Top three albums: Kind of Blue, Miles Davis; October Road, James Taylor; Aretha Franklin’s Greatest Hits.

How I would fix the Red Sox in ’07: ‘‘I’m going to pray for them.’’

Guilty pleasure: ‘‘Food. All kinds of food. The whole ritual of cooking and eating with people.’’