Obama 'Puzzled' By Reaction To His Words On Iraq

Campaign '08 Complete Coverage About The Candidates & Issues ST. LOUIS (AP) ― Barack Obama celebrated "active faith" as an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change while speaking Saturday to a nearly all-black roomful of churchgoers, but hoping to reach far beyond them. Making a less than two-hour stop 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 and civicly 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... [read full story]