Obama: U.S. presidential win 'sent a message to the world'

President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and daughters Sasha, 7, left, and Malia, 10, wave to the crowd at the election night rally in Chicago on Tuesday night. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," the Illinois senator told a jubilant crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered in Chicago's Grant Park.

The wide range of Americans who turned out to vote in this election "sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states," Obama said. "We are, and always will be, the United States of America."

He also congratulated Republican candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, for a long and hard-fought campaign and reached out to their supporters.

"To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices," he said. "I need your help, and I will be your president, too."The Democrat said his opponent, a veteran who survived years of torture as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, "has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine.""We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader," Obama said.The 47-year-old son of a black Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas also praised his family, including his wife, Michelle, his two young daughters and his grandmother, who died just two days before Obama was elected to the nation's

Marissa Wilkes, left, and Ladona Miller hug each otherat an election party Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C., as they learn of Obama's victory. (Gerry Broome/Associated Press)

"While she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching," he told the crowd.

The president-elect, who will be inaugurated Jan. 20, 2009, also spoke of the difficult challenges facing Americans beset by "two wars, a planet in peril and the worst financial crisis in a century."

"There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, threats to meet and alliances to repair," he said. "The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term.

"But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there."

The emotional crowd responded with the Obama campaign's familiar chant of "Yes, we can," which Obama himself integrated into his victory speech, using it to punctuate an anecdote about a 106-year-old black voter he met in Atlanta and the challenges she has seen America overcome in her lifetime.

"It's fantastic," said Hulon Johnson, 71, a retired Chicago public school principal celebrating in the crowd. "I've always told my kids this was possible; now they'll have to believe me."

The Obama victory also sparked celebrations across the country, even along the capital's famed Pennsylvania Avenue.

Among the crowd gathered at Howard University, Washington's historically black institution, one woman told CBC News that she never believed she would be able to vote for a black presidential candidate, let alone see one elected.

"I feel hope and change in the air," she said. "I'm really, really excited about waking up tomorrow."