Today on the presidential campaign trail

Enthusiastic churchgoers welcome Obama at St. Louis event ... McCain sees himself a GOP underdog in an election year in which trends favor Democrats ... Obama's daughter turns 10 in Montana, says 'best birthday' ever

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Religious group gives Obama enthusiastic welcome

ST. LOUIS (AP)--Barack Obama celebrated "active faith" as an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change while speaking to a roomful of churchgoers, but hoping to reach far beyond them.

Making a less than two-hour stop Saturday in this battleground state, the Democratic presidential nominee implored the thousands attending a national meeting of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation's largest and most politically active black denominations, to help fix national and local ills.

He preached individual responsibility, saying he knew he risked criticism for "blaming the victim" by talking of the need for parents to help children with homework and turn off the TV, to pass on a healthy self-image to daughters, and teach boys both to respect women and "realize that responsibility does not end at conception."

But Obama's main message was the government's duty to address what he said are "moral problems"--such as war, poverty, joblessness, homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools--and to employ religious institutions to do it.

"As long as we're not doing everything in our individual and collective power to solve the challenges we face, the conscience of our nation cannot rest," he said.

Obama made frequent references to the civil-rights movement and continuing struggles in the black community.