In his acceptance speech tonight, president-elect Barack Obama acknowledged his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died yesterday in Honolulu.

"While she's no longer with us," Obama told a throng in Chicago's Grant Park, "I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight."

Earlier in the evening, U.S. Sen. John McCain conceded the presidential race to Obama, saying, "Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise."

In his speech, Obama also thanked his daughters, Sasha and Malia, and said, "You have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."