n an unusual display of unity, dozens of activists from 30 interest groups - most of whom disagree on other ballot measures - gathered on the State House steps yesterday to decry Question 6, which offers motorists a state tax rebate for their tolls and auto excise taxes.
The event was one of those rare political moments when the messengers were the message, participants said.
''I don't think you're ever going to see a list like that again,'' said Charles D. Chieppo of the conservative Pioneer Institute, pointing at a banner listing the groups on hand, including the state Environmental League, the AFL-CIO, and the Construction Industries of Massachusetts.
But despite unanimous disapproval by a diverse congregation of political interests, voters appear intrigued by Question 6.
The reason is in their wallets. One nonpartisan group, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, believes a successful Question 6 would give $3.76 billion back to tax-paying motorists in its first five years alone.
As a result, the ballot question, created by the Free the Pike coalition, appears to have a good chance of passing - despite a rival tax cut backed by Governor Paul Cellucci, appearing on Question 4, that would dwarf Question 6.
According to a survey of 400 likely voters conducted Oct. 9-12 by Mass Insight, the public is split on the issue: 44 percent favor Question 6, 40 percent oppose it, and 16 percent remain undecided. The poll had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
Support may be eroding, however. An April survey conducted by the University of Massachusetts found that 52 percent of those surveyed favored the measure. At that time, 42 percent opposed the tax cut, and 6 percent were undecided.
''The movement is definitely in favor of the opponents,'' said Louis DiNatale, director of UMass Poll. ''People don't go from opposed to in favor. They wait for a while in the undecided column, then keep moving.''
The ground could easily shift again before Election Day. Despite the number of opponents who appeared at the press event yesterday, none has plans to conduct a paid advertising campaign on radio or on television, those in attendance said. Instead, opponents will continue to speak against Question 6 at community meetings, on Web sites, and in the media.
By comparison, proponents of the measure sent a fleet of seven billboard trucks onto the highways and byways of Massachusetts weeks ago, urging voters to approve Question 6. One of the trucks parked across the street from yesterday's event, towering over opponents who tried in vain to block its message with hand-held placards.
Next week, Free the Pike will roll out a series of 30-second and 60-second radio ads in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, said Harold Hubschman, spokesman for the Free the Pike coalition, who was on hand yesterday to keep an eye on the enemy.
''We're running a real campaign,'' Hubschman said before the event. ''These guys here are all downtown lobbyists whose constituents benefit from all the tax revenues we want to give back to the people who shouldn't be paying them in the first place. We're talking to [voters] and they're listening. Every time you say the words tolls and excise taxes, it increases our popularity.''
DiNatale of UMass Poll said a paid-media campaign so late in the game could go far toward swaying voters - especially if it aired without competition from opponents.
''All the free media and grass-roots organizing [the opponents] do won't overcome an effective late media campaign,'' DiNatale said. ''If the proponents of the measure have electronic time of their own, that can start moving it back toward passage again. This thing is right on the cusp.''
Some opponents of Question 6 have openly wondered why more has not been done to fight the measure through paid advertising, which is by far the most persuasive medium available.
''I do wish the business community and the governor w ould put their money where their mouth is and raise some money on this issue,'' said Jim St. George, who heads the campaign against Question 6.
''I do think we will win,'' he said later. ''But we'd like a cushion.''
