Obama spoke Wednesday to a largely partisan crowd of several hundred veterans and their families in Billings, his last stop before he is scheduled to accept his party's nomination in Denver. If elected, the Illinois senator has pledged to get more funding for veterans health programs, improve mental health treatment for soldiers returning from war and end the war in Iraq.

By reaching out to the nation's 25 million veterans, the Obama campaign is hoping to make inroads on a constituency that has traditionally leaned Republican.