Washington, USA - Democratic politicians have found religion and that may help explain why they are suddenly more popular among churchgoing Americans.
As they push to win control of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday's elections from Republicans, who have long enjoyed support among conservative religious voters, more and more Democrats have shed a reluctance to talk about their faith.
"What we're doing is paying real dividends in the faith community," said Rep. James Clyburn (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, who heads the House of Representatives Democratic Faith Working Group, an outreach effort by lawmakers to ministers from the left and right.
"We're framing issues in religious terms and getting our members to be comfortable with it," said Clyburn, the son of a fundamentalist minister.
His and other similar groups were formed after the 2004 elections when the religious right was a major force behind President George W. Bush re-election and the Republicans keeping control of Congress.
Bush was perceived as a man of faith after he called Jesus Christ his favorite philosopher during the 2000 White House campaign. Republicans have been seen by some as representing "family values," mainly because of their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and support for school prayer.
Until recently, Democrats have been reluctant to mention religion, but that has begun to change with some now even quoting scripture.
In Georgetown, Ohio, recently, Democratic congressional challenger Victoria Wulsin slid easily into biblical talk at a National Catholic Rural Life Conference.
"Paul's letter to Timothy sets the stage for doing what's right," said Wulsin, the granddaughter of preachers.
A popular phrase for Democrats this year is "the common good," essentially a shared sacrifice to help all.
"When we work together for the common good, we can overcome the great moral dilemmas of our time," Democratic senatorial nominee Bob Casey of Pennsylvania declares on his Web site where he is pictured standing in front of a church.
GOD AND THE VOTING BOOTH
Polls show Democrats may win the House and perhaps the Senate in an election dominated by the unpopular
Iraq war, Bush's dismal approval ratings and a crush of scandals in Congress, the latest involving a Republican lawmaker sending sexually explicit e-mails to former assistants.
An October Gallup study found white churchgoers "equally as likely to say they will vote Democratic as Republican, a marked change from their strong tilt toward the Republicans in surveys conducted June through September."
Democrats are encouraged by a recent Pew Research poll that found 57 percent of white evangelicals say they plan to vote Republican, down from 68 percent in 2002 and the 74 percent who backed Republicans in the 2004 House races.
John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, said: "Many Democrats have concluded that they can compete for the Christian vote. Perhaps not for hard-line votes but for moderate evangelicals, Catholics and mainline Protestants."
The Rev. Jim Wallis, an evangelical Christian who heads a faith-based group in Washington, said, "Democrats are just doing the math and realize they have to be more inclusive."
In a June speech, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said fellow Democrats must end their reluctance to talk about their faith.
"If we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons will continue to hold sway," Obama said, naming two outspoken conservative Christian figures.
Democrats are now talking more openly about where they stand spiritually.
U.S. senatorial candidate Harold Ford of Tennessee said recently, "I can't help it. I love Jesus."