Associated Press - July 4, 2008 7:43 PM ET

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - On this Fourth of July, Barack Obama is paying tribute to a nation in which the son of a single mother could find himself to be a potential president.

At what was described as a “family picnic” for hundreds of people in Butte, Montana, Obama told the guests, “We are going to change the world.”

The picnic was part Fourth of July rally, and part birthday party for his oldest daughter, Malia, who turned 10 today.

Earlier, at a holiday parade in Butte, the crowd broke into a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Malia.

At the picnic, Michelle Obama continued the theme of focusing on children, telling the gathering that if her husband “cares half as much about this country as he does about his own children, we’re going to be just fine.”

Since 1948, just two Democratic presidential candidates have captured Montana’s three electoral votes. But this is Obama’s fourth visit to the state.

Source: WRCBTV