MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Driving east on Interstate 40 out of the city, all that meets the eye are the staples of the American countryside: trees, cows and barns.
But as you bend around the curve near exit 14, the foliage clears and a dramatically different landscape immediately jolts your view - that of three monumental white crosses in the distance.
The monuments - with the 150-feet-high center cross flanked by two 120-feet-high crosses - mark the location of Bellevue Baptist Church, a megachurch with a membership approaching 30,000.
But in Tennessee, the massive edifices also serve as a vivid reminder of ever-present religious overtones that are in a state that has been termed the "buckle" of the Bible Belt.
"Religion certainly plays a big role down" in the South, Auburn University political science professor Steven Brown said. "It permeates people's lives."
In his current race to win a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee, Penn alumnus and Democratic candidate Harold Ford Jr., faces a particularly tough challenge in a state with a large conservative Baptist population.
But Ford doesn't shy away from making religion a part of his campaign.
When the five-term congressman stood in Mason, Tenn., ready to speak to a mostly-black crowd of about 100 last week, he first called the local pastor up to the front. The clergyman asked for guidance in the Senate race and set the tone for the political rally.
Members of the crowd solemnly lowered their heads and listened to the pastor's preaching before Ford stole the stage with his own sermon.
Ford - a devout Baptist himself who regularly attends church - stirred up the crowd immediately. He spoke of the lies he charges his opponent, Republican Bob Corker, with spreading. He cited Scripture from memory. He recounted biblical stories to try to relate Jesus' wisdom and perseverance to his own campaign. He repeatedly made sure to inform these potential voters of his views against gay marriage and in support of school prayer.
And the crowd responded with fervor, hearing Ford's statements and answering with "That's right" and "Amen." They cheered when he mentioned morality and religion, and cheered louder when he invoked Jesus.
These voters recognize his language as their own, recognize his mannerisms as their own, seem to view him as one of their own.
When Ford moved on to Jackson and Nashville on his campaign tour, it was more of the same.
He tells the crowd that people have questioned how he can oppose gay marriage and he responds: "That's just how I was raised. I just don't know any better."
Ford resonates with his religious constituents. And his success may hinge on turning that rapport into votes.
Republicans have come to dominate the state's political landscape over the past decade or so, winning every Senate race since 1990. Most political gurus have credited the party's recent success to its willingness to embrace moral and religious issues, especially in the state's more agrarian regions.
"People in rural areas appear to be looking for candidates who can speak to middle America, [and say] that I'm a candidate that understands your lifestyle . and is not trying to push an agenda that you're not comfortable with," Clemson University political science professor Laura Olson said. "What's happened is that the Republican party increasingly has been seen by American voters as the party that is friendly to these religious interests."
As a result, Democrats have gotten the short end of the stick, losing dozens of congressional seats in the South to Republicans who more readily embraced religion on the campaign trail.
But experts say the Democratic party has finally begun picked up on the trend.
Tim Kaine rode his Catholic faith and missionary work to a successful bid for the Virginia governorship last year, while both Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland and Democratic Pennsylvania Senate contender Bob Casey have publicized their religious backgrounds to take commanding leads in their respective races.
And Ford is taking the same approach.
He has combined a religious message with a centrist voting record that appeals to moderate Tennesseeans.
"This is a Democrat willing to talk about [religion], which is something that voters aren't used to seeing," said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst for the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter that provides election analysis. "What Ford's focus on religion does for him is it busts a stereotype. . It helps him in the argument that he's a moderate, and it helps take the edge off the usual African-American Democrat [stereotype] that means you're a liberal."
What Duffy says is most important for Ford's image is that the religious message comes across to voters as sincere and heartfelt, which could prompt voters who normally vote Republican to cross party lines.
"Most [Tennesseans] are people who like to believe that candidates are sincere and that they share their beliefs," University of Memphis history professor Charles Crawford said.
Ford has done well to resonate his message with these Tennessee voters over the course of the campaign, even filming a campaign commercial in a church, a move experts have said is unprecedented in political advertising.
In the ad, Ford is shown strolling comfortably through the church's pews, saying, "I started church the old-fashioned way. I was forced to. And I'm better for it," as he uses the setting to establish honesty in his campaign.
The ad shows Ford as a man raised on religious values and a man who has stuck to those values - values that are shared by many Tennessee voters.
And while it has certainly angered proponents of the separation of church and state, the ad may indicate a calculated risk by the Ford campaign that more voters will be won over by religious imagery than alienated by it.
Richard Johnston, Penn Political science professor and National Annenberg Election Study regional director, said that any controversy over the ad would likely come from the left, a group whose support Ford is unlikely to lose.
"He has concluded that his problem lies at the other end of the electorate," Johnston said. "He wants to convey the impression that he's as sound on the issues of church and state as his opponent."
If Ford is successful in that goal, he might not only convert white Evangelicals to his side of the ballot, but also induce religious black voters to come out on Election Day - which may be as important to Ford's chances, considering his sizeable advantage among black voters.
"It really kills two birds with one stone," Olson said. "And if you think [the religious message] comes across as pretty genuine, I'm here to tell you its probably going to be pretty effective."
Duffy said that Ford's emphasis on religion has probably been evolving since Democrats' apparent disconnect with moral issues came to the forefront during the 2000 presidential election.
"Ford was one of the believers that you can't make this stuff up, but if this is a big part of your life, it doesn't harm you to talk about it on the campaign trail," she said.
And if he is successful, Ford could have a lasting impact on the Democratic model of how to win in a country that has balked at separating religion and politics.
As Duffy says, "He's breaking the pattern."
And with Election Day three weeks away, Ford can only hope that that will make the difference.
