Carol Moseley Braun may be behind other Democratic presidential candidates in the polls, but in the black churches of Florence and the Pee Dee her message of jobs, education and peace resonates like harmonies from a gospel choir.

“I think it was wonderful,” said Carol McAllister, a parishioner at Cumberland United Methodist Church. “I’m glad she came and I’m definitely going to support her.”

Like many who lined up to meet Moseley Braun at churches across Florence on Sunday, McAllister liked the former ambassador and U.S. senator from Illinois because she is a strong role model for black women as well as for her politics. Moseley Braun played to those feelings, telling the congregation at New Ebenezer Baptist Church that South Carolina had a chance to turn the national political debate in a new direction by nominating her for president.

“This country can tap 100 percent of its talent,” she said. “I have been campaigning to take the ‘men only’ sign off the White House door.”

Moseley Braun is in the midst of trying to gather 3,000 signatures to get her name on the state’s Feb. 3 Democratic primary ballot. She said she hopes to file the petitions and paperwork on Tuesday.

With a campaign platform focusing on creating jobs that pay a living wage, establishing universal health care coverage and improving educational opportunities, Moseley Braun has also advocated stronger civil liberty protections and has opposed the war in Iraq.

To win South Carolina, Moseley Braun has a lot of ground to make up. A December Pew Research Center poll showed N.C.’s Sen. John Edwards leading all candidates with 16 percent of voters supporting him. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark was second with 11 percent and Moseley Braun was toward the bottom of the nine-person field with 2 percent support.

About one-third of voters polled said they were still undecided.

But many parishioners who met Moseley Braun on Sunday said they had only recently decided to support her.

“I didn’t take her very seriously at first,” McAllister said.

While she has drawn followers in the state, Moseley Braun has also been followed by 10-year-old allegations of ethical violations, including misusing campaign funds. Those rumors may have led to her defeat after only one term in the Senate.

Focusing only on her message Sunday, she did not want to discuss the charges. Her campaign Web site provides documentation refuting all claims.

It was Moseley Braun’s message that won over Savannah Grove Baptist parishioner Wanda Harkness.

With her two children in tow, Harkness said she would vote for Moseley Braun, in part because providing health care was a Christian duty.

“We really don’t care for our older (people) as a whole,” Harkness said.

Moseley Braun spent early December campaigning in New Hampshire before arriving in South Carolina this week. She also attended a May debate in Columbia.

South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary could have a dramatic impact on the national race, and the Pee Dee region is considered a state Democratic bellwether — a fact not lost on Moseley Braun or parishioners.

Samuel Willoughby of Savannah Grove Baptist said he had been following this election more closely than usual. He had yet to decide for whom he was voting, but appreciated Moseley Braun’s visit.

“I’ve listened to a number of her speeches,” he said. “I guess she realizes how important South Carolina is. She’s really talking to the people.”

Reach O’Connor at (803) 771-8435 or johnoconnor@thestate.com.