The rain-drenched crowds that lined East Boston's streets on Sunday for the annual Columbus Day Parade received not only Tootsie Rolls from the passing floats, but also a healthy dose of hand-shakes.

As the Nov. 3 election day approaches, both Massachusetts candidates for governor, Acting Governor A. Paul Cellucci and Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger '64, were trying to win swing votes.

Although the parade was threatened by bad weather, both candidates walked the parade route up Bennington Street, shaking hands with residents.

The governor's race has started to heat up in the last few weeks as the candidates have attacked each other in debates and on the air-waves.

Last week's debate in Lowell between the candidates and Cellucci's recent advertising blitz attacking Harshbarger indicate the campaign is getting personal.

While Sunday's parade was free of verbal sparring between the candidates, yesterday's Columbus Day Parade in Revere heated up with Harshbarger attacking Cellucci's personal debt of $70;000 in pre-parade comments.

"He continues to maintain that he is the fiscally responsible one. I find that claim to be somewhat shallow and maybe Joe Malone was right, maybe Paul doesn't know how to handle money," Harshbarger said.

Martin A. Linsky, a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, said Harshbarger's comment reflected a growing sense of concern within the candidate's organization.

"Harshbarger is starting to feel more desperate," Linsky said.

Both candidates posted easy victories in their Sept. 15 primary races. Harshbarger defeated Patricia McGovern by a comfortable 20 percent margin while Cellucci beat Joseph D. Malone '76 by 16 percentage points.

Although Cellucci is the current frontrunner, his lead is tenuous at best. In a poll taken two weeks by the Boston Herald and WCVB-TV, 48 percent of voters supported Cellucci, with 38 percent backing Harshbarger.

However, in a poll taken by The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV on October 9, Cellucci's lead slipped to 6 percentage points. The poll has a 5 percent margin of error, putting the race in a virtual dead-heat.

On the Trail

Among the crowds of veteran groups massing into formation and children with face paint, a small brownstone house stood out on Bennington Street with its colorful banners and masses of people wearing Italian flag buttons. Joe Cinserali, a six-month volunteer for the Cellucci campaign, had converted the home into the Cellucci parade headquarters.

Cellucci has an even more immediate connection with the East Boston community because it is his grandmother's birthplace. While Cellucci began the day with a bowl of lasagna, he does not need to worry about holding onto his Italian base.