FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Dr. Marc Swerdloff is a proud Jewish Republican.
Wendy Bourgault is a Catholic who has no problem with same-sex unions.
Marcus Davis, an evangelical Christian, calls himself pro-choice on abortion.
Amar Mehta says that if he heard an official at his Hindu temple endorse a candidate, he'd walk out.
For all the talk about red and blue, and who leans which way politically, many believers are coloring outside the lines.
Pollsters, too, are paying more attention to the faith factor.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found in September that white evangelical Protestant voters solidly favored John McCain, while black Protestants favored Barack Obama. For white non-Hispanic Catholics, it was McCain by 52 percent to 39 percent. And for white mainline Protestants, it was a dead heat.
Faith has made a slow crescendo in politics since 1976, when Jimmy Carter made "born-again" a household word. Jews and evangelical Christians were seen as big swing votes for Ronald Reagan in 1980. And since 2004, Democratic Party leaders have begun stressing spirituality more. Conversely, the Republican Party tried to downplay religion this year, Silk says. So it was a surprise when McCain's vice presidential choice was Sarah Palin — "the first movement evangelical on a national ticket," he says. "In the end, the party decided they couldn't do without that wing."
Both sides, left and right, say they draw on spiritual principles.
"I start with issues of life — not just abortion, but birth to death," says Mitch Dasher, who joined a dozen other pro-Obama friends in Wellington to watch the second presidential debate. "Christ came to save people. He spread the message to feed and clothe them.
"The Republican Party just talks about not having to pay taxes," continues Dasher, a lector at St. Ann Catholic Church in West Palm Beach. "Then they borrow to pay for war."
Across the aisle is Scott Spages, who co-chairs Calvary Chapel's monthly Faith Forum, a politics-themed gathering with an average attendance of 40. Spages believes the Republican Party best fits the biblical model of government.
"God requires me to follow his lead, not rely on the government to solve problems," Spages says.
For that reason, he believes national health care is unhealthy. "It'll be a false idol, one more reason to serve government instead of God."
For Amar Mehta, a computer engineer in Coral Springs, one guidepost is the Hindu concept of Vasudev kutumbh, "The whole world is my family." That makes him consider how a policy affects everyone, he says.
Still, Mehta wants to think for himself, not have beliefs spoon-fed at the Boynton Beach Hindu Temple, where he attends.
Some believers say they want the next president to think in broad terms of what will benefit people, rather than one sector.
"A sense of service and duty" is the main thing for Susan Straker Virtue, a lay leader at First United Methodist Church in Fort Lauderdale.
"Society values aggressive, assertive people," says Virtue, a consultant for an insurance company in Davie. "But a president should have a servant's heart. It should be the most humbling experience to head a nation that says it's under God."
Meanwhile, some people of faith are taking a steadier view of the future. When Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, Beverly Duke-Ranck ran into her bedroom, fell on her knees and prayed and wept.
"I thought the world would end," says Duke-Ranck, a member of Trinity Church International in Lake Worth. "But Armageddon didn't come. God is still in control.
"People say this is a pivotal election. Well, every day is pivotal."