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.

This election represents a high-water mark for religious involvement, according Mark Silk, a religion professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

"There is more religion in more ways than in other cycles," said Silk, who also edits a journal called Religion in the News. "Religion did play a part in other campaigns, but not as much as now."

Pollsters, too, are paying more attention to the faith factor.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found in September 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.

Conversely, the Republican Party tried to downplay religion this year, Silk said. So it was a surprise when McCain's vice presidential choice was Sarah Palin, "the first movement evangelical on a national ticket"

"In the end," he said, "The party decided they couldn't do without that wing."

The ferment of faith and politics is bubbling in South Florida as well.

Several Republican presidential candidates spoke last year in a debate in Fort Lauderdale, though not the front-runners. The event was organized by conservatives and carried on Reach-FM, owned by Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale.

On Monday, Rabbi Barry Silver will take Obama's side in a debate with Rabbi Michael Korman of Congregation Anshei Sholom, West Palm Beach, advocating for McCain — at least McCain's stance on Israel. The event will take place in Lake Worth at Silver's synagogue, L'Dor Va-Dor.

And on Nov. 3, the day before the election, professors at Palm Beach Atlantic University will debate "Political Conservatives or Liberalism: Which is the Most Consistent with Christianity?"

Both sides, left and right, say they draw on spiritual principles.

"I start with issues of life — not just abortion, but birth to death," said 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."

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 said.

For that reason, he believes national health care is unhealthy.

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 said.

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," said 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."