In the northeast, says Mark Rozell, professor in the school of public policy at George Mason University in Virginia, it's long been "considered anathema for people to be overtly out in the open about their religious affiliation, beliefs and practices." The most blatant expressions of religiosity on the campaign trail are in the deep South, he says.

But even a little farther north, religion can sell a candidate, and in ways not possible a generation ago. When Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was candidate Tim Kaine in 2005, he talked repeatedly about his Catholic faith and his work as a missionary in South America, and the references were seen as advantageous to him, Rozell says.

"We would not be having this conversation 20 or 30 years ago about a Catholic being able to appeal on the basis of his religiosity to a primarily Baptist state. ... Whereas a generation ago these groups would be battling each other in the public square over their doctrinal differences, today in the political sphere they're able to put those differences aside" to support common issues such as abortion and school prayer.

Nationally, says Jowers of the Hinckley Institute, "in a vacuum, people might prefer to vote for someone of their own religion. But that's just one initial, not too powerful, impulse. ... People initially are smaller at their core, but at the end of the day they get a sense for a person, and a lot of those things fall away." Even in Utah, he says, "I bet a lot of people don't know what religion their office holders are."

But there is a place where most Americans draw the line. When asked if an atheist could win, professor Harry Wilson, who teaches political science at Roanoke College in Virginia, emphatically states, "No! No!," then adds, "Maybe in California."

When Wilson briefly thought of running for office in Virginia, he consulted a local legislator, whose first question to him was, "Do you belong to a church?"

A Pew Research Center poll earlier this year asked people which traits — including being black, Mormon, Muslim, female or homosexual — would hurt a candidate the most. The answer: "Doesn't believe in God."

"You're really foolish, unless you're running in an area where most of the people are secular — and that's very, very rare in the United States — to come out and say religion is a sham," says Clemson's Olson. "It's one thing to say, 'I'm sort of spiritual, but I don't go to church.' It's another to say, 'I'm an atheist.' Americans are really afraid of that."

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com