Surrounded by a group of glamorous grannies in Bangor market, Co Down, Peter Robinson doesn't know quite what to do. Suzanne Breen goes canvassing with Peter Robinson, the deputy leader of the DUP.
The Rev Ian Paisley would throw his arms around the women and ask them to give the DUP the "kiss of life". That's not Robinson's style.
"Hello dear, how are you?" he asks the chief cheer-leader.
But the women are still brimming with admiration. Everybody knows that while Dr Paisley provides colour and charisma, his deputy brings first-class organisational and policy-making skills.
He is an able television performer. He has modernised the party's message to appeal to a wider audience. Without both men's contribution, the DUP would not be poised to overtake the Ulster Unionists next week as it confidently predicts.
Robinson believes that in terms of first-preference votes and Assembly seats, the DUP will defeat its rival. It won 20 seats in the last Stormont elections and this time expects 26-32. "You can feel the sea-change on the streets and doorsteps," he says.
An elderly man tells Robinson he should have "clobbered Trimble" during a recent row outside UUP headquarters.
Robinson says "tempting though that might be", it's better to destroy Trimble politically. "He will be finished if we trounce him at the polls. He will take his party so low, they will realise they will never rise again under his leadership. He will be dumped."
The DUP deputy leader is merciless in his criticism. "Trimble has no communication skills, no people skills and no leadership skills. His political obituary will be that he had no friends in unionism."
Robinson talks tough but avoids biblical imagery and simple, emotional tirades. His arguments are always intellectually rooted. He defends changing practices - like DUP representatives debating on air with Sinn Féin - but manages to avoid any backlash.
"We took on Sinn Féin in the Assembly chamber and committees. If we want to get our message across, we must do the same on television." But the DUP will "never be on first-name terms with Sinn Féin/IRA nor cuddle up to them".
He says he decided to enter politics when his friend, Harry Beggs (23), an electricity worker, was killed in an IRA bomb in 1971. He finds it "nauseating" to even look at Gerry Adams at Stormont.
Post-election, the DUP won't negotiate with Sinn Féin even if it emerges as the largest nationalist party.
Isn't that unrealistic? "Well, David Trimble signed up to the Belfast Agreement without having direct talks with Sinn Féin," he says.
"The DUP will negotiate with the constitutional parties and Her Majesty's Government. Adams and McGuinness are always running to Downing Street. If they can do it, why can't we?"
The DUP will negotiate with the Government on "matters between Northern Ireland and the Republic but not our internal affairs".
Yet there have been policy shifts. Robinson resents the DUP's "bogey man" portrayal: "We aren't a party with horns and a pitch fork. We believe in democracy. Nationalists have nothing to fear from us."
In terms of a political settlement, he doesn't propose simple majority rule - "stability means both communities' support is needed".
However the Stormont institutions seem doomed if Sinn Féin and the DUP emerge as the biggest parties. It's impossible to imagine them sharing the First and Deputy First Minister positions. Robinson insists any new set-up need not involve cabinet-style government.
He points to Belfast City Council where Sinn Féin and unionists are represented but there is no executive-style administration.
Robinson says his party's ideas have often been dismissed in the past and later accepted.
"They said the agreement was set in stone - yet new negotiations will take place after the election. Our proposals have been written off time and time again. That's nothing to worry about," he insists.
Robinson (53) is married to Iris, the DUP's Strangford MP. In recent years, his stern image has softened. His speeches increasingly include humour.
"I'm not trying to put on an act. Iain Duncan Smith is testimony to the pointlessness of that. If you want to communicate with people, you must be yourself."
Other additions include a trendier haircut, glasses and clothes. "I do what I'm told. What Iris lays out, I put on."
Robinson denies he is attempting to usurp Dr Paisley or that there are internal divisions. "Ian and I have been together for over 30 years. We have not once had a cross word. The DUP is different from any other party in the world. We aren't just colleagues who share a cause, we are friends."
Dr Paisley hasn't been relegated to a "father-figure" role in the DUP, he insists.
"We just use our assets as best as possible. Ian is our star performer on the campaign trail. I know I can't compare.
"My strengths are in administration and strategy. All our policies are unanimously agreed. I've spent my time under a man who, unlike Trimble, is a real leader. Ian maintained a stand during the most awful times."
Yet it's the beginning of a new era for the DUP. Driving back to Belfast, Robinson notes the slogan outside UUP headquarters. The Future, Not the Past, it announces.
"But they are the past and we are the future," he declares. "I'm confident of that."
