AP-Charlotte, NC

CHARLOTTE, NC - The weather matched Barack Obama’s mood tonight at his rally in the Tar Heel State - just hours from when voters will go to the polls tomorrow. Some 25,000 waited in a cold rain for the Democratic nominee, who learned just this morning that his grandmother, the woman who helped raise him, had passed away from cancer just one day before Election Day.

His voice weary and tears at times falling down his cheeks, the man who is poised to make history should he be elected tomorrow, addressed what the world learned just minutes before he took the stage. “This is a little bit of a bittersweet time for me,” he began.

“We have had a remarkable campaign and you know when we started 21 months ago, I didn’t know how it would turn out. And no matter what happens tomorrow, I’m gonna feel good about how it’s turned out because all of you have created this incredible campaign,” he continued.

He then explained to the crowd - who seemed unaware of Madelyn Dunham’s passing - that she died “peacefully” with his sister at her side.

“Look, she is going home,” he said. “I’m not going to talk about it too long, because it’s hard a little to talk about.”

But for a few minutes at the top of his rally, he paused to tell world about her. “Her name was Madelyn Dunham and she was born in Kansas in a small town in 1922,” he started.

Recounting Dunham’s now familiar biography - someone who lived through war and depression while raising a family, he described her as “a very humble person and a very plainspoken person.”

“She’s one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America who – they’re not famous, their names aren’t in the newspapers, but each and every day they work hard. They look after their families. They sacrifice for their children and their grandchildren. They aren’t seeking the limelight. All they try to do is do the right thing,” he said somberly.

Its those “quiet heroes” around the nation he said he’s fighting for in this election.

In this crowd there are a lot of quiet heroes like that. Mothers and fathers and grandparents who have worked hard and sacrificed all their lives and the satisfaction that they get is seeing that their children and maybe their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren live a better life than they did.That’s what America’s about. That’s what we’re fighting for. And North Carolina, in just one more day, we have the opportunity to honor all those quiet heroes all across America and all across North Carolina. We can bring change to America to make sure that their sacrifice is honored. That’s what we’re fighting for!

Obama was sure to thank his rival, John McCain, for his condolences and said, “It’s an incredibly gracious of Senator McCain and it’s an example that Senator McCain has continued to serve his country honorably.”

And in what will be his second to last campaign rally, he then delivered his stump speech, often critical of McCain. After all, the fight must go on.