Obama holds rally in Montana during Fourth of July

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 5, 2008

BUTTE, Mont. - It was a family Fourth of July for Democrat Barack Obama as his wife, daughters, sister and other relatives helped him make an Independence Day play for this reliably conservative state.

And while Obama was campaigning, his Republican rival, John McCain, was in Phoenix spending the long holiday weekend at home.

In Montana, Obama paid tribute to a nation in which the son of a single mother could rise to such heights.

"I know that there is no other country out there where I could be standing before you as somebody who could potentially be president of the United States," he said at a campaign-sponsored "family picnic" for hundreds - part rally, part birthday party for his oldest daughter, Malia, who turned 10 on Friday. "We are going to change the world."

Cheers greeted Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters everywhere. As they arrived to watch the Fourth of July parade, the crowd broke into a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Malia.

Obama joked that he had to tell the birthday girl not to get caught up in all the fuss. "All the fireworks and stuff are not just for her," he said to laughs.

That appeared a reference to the treat the family got Thursday night. Obama's motorcade ferried the family from their private jet to a home high above town that provided a view of the city's late-night fireworks display.

Friday's picnic was held on a sunny hillside with a mountain vista, checkered tablecloths and food dotting the property of the World Mining Museum.

Introducing her husband, Michelle Obama spent almost more time talking of the relatives there than her husband.

She led the crowd in another round of "Happy Birthday," then noted that mom singing into a microphone might not be the best present for a young girl. "Now, she's thoroughly embarrassed," she laughed.

Continuing the theme of focusing on children, Michelle Obama said "those little people and all the beautiful kids all over this park" are driving him to run for president no matter the sacrifice it costs their family.

"The reason why I am standing here today is that if he cares half as much about this country as ... his own children, we're going to be just fine," she said.

Also on Friday, The New York Times reported that President George W. Bush's former adviser Karl Rove delivered a speech before an anti-abortion group in which he attacked Obama for his abortion rights views and hailed McCain for his family values.

Speaking in Virginia to members of National Right To Life, Rove said that Obama threatened "to strike down all the good work that you've done over decades," with his support of the Freedom of Choice Act and other legislation that would advance abortion rights, according to the Times.

And although he helped end McCain's presidential bid in the 2000 Republican primary, Rove praised his party's presumptive nominee, describing the decision he and his wife made to adopt a child from Bangladesh, the Times reported.

Obama on Thursday said "mental distress" should not qualify as a health exception for late term-abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.

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Related topic galleries: Government, National Government, Montana, Abortion, Barack Obama, George Bush, Virginia

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