Jackson, USA - Clutching a leather-bound Bible in a TV spot, Democrat John Arthur Eaves Jr. invokes Jesus as a minister to the "least and lost." He again quotes Scripture when criticizing his opponent, saying Gov. Haley Barbour is beholden to "moneychangers."
"The most crucial question in this campaign is: 'Who do you serve?' Eaves says repeatedly on the campaign trail. "I want to serve my creator by serving the people of Mississippi."
Politics and religion might be separate worlds in some parts of the country, but in Mississippi — a mostly Protestant state in the Bible Belt — the ballot box and the old rugged cross are intertwined.
Barbour has mostly emphasized job creation and recovery from Hurricane Katrina, but he can hold his own in the Battle of the Bible. During a recent debate, the Republican governor referred to a passage in the Book of Daniel in which a hand appears out of nowhere to write a message on the wall of the temple in Babylon.
Barbour used the Biblical account to deny that he's beholden to big tobacco, oil and insurance companies through ties to his old Washington lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith and Rogers.
"If a hand appeared on that wall and wrote, 'Haley Barbour gets no income other than his retirement from Barbour Griffith and Rogers, and owns no interest in Barbour Griffith and Rogers,' that wouldn't be good enough for my opponent," Barbour said.
Eaves, 41, a trial lawyer, has put $2.5 million of his own money into his largely self-funded campaign. But Barbour, 60, — former chairman of the Republican National Committee_ is expected to easily win a second term Nov. 6.
So is Eaves turning any heads by putting God at the forefront?
"I think you could kind of figure what segment of the electorate those messages are aimed at, and it's that segment of what were once blue-collar Democrats that have become Reagan Democrats or Karl Rove Democrats or whatever," said Joseph Parker, a University of Southern Mississippi political science professor, of Eaves' constant references to religion.
"It's an effort to win those people back," Parker said.
The Rev. Phillip Knight of Florence, Miss., president of the conservative Congregational Methodist denomination and state director of Christians United for Israel, said he's bothered by Eaves' references to "moneychangers," a term often used in a derogatory way about Jews. Eaves said he doesn't intend the reference to be anti-Jewish.
"Any student of the Bible will also remember that when Jesus ran the moneychangers out of the temple, he and his followers were also Jewish," Eaves said in an e-mail when asked for comment on the potential slight.
Knight said he plans to vote for Barbour, largely because of the governor's stance against abortion and against same-sex marriage — positions that Eaves also publicly advocates.
"We're values voters for sure," Knight said. "(Barbour) matches up perfectly with us there."