Call it an infomercial if you like, but Barack Obama's 30-minute pitch to voters last night was a first on two levels. First, no presidential candidate has used television ad time to tell a story so effectively.

Second, the content was consistent with what Obama has been saying since the day he first announced his campaign.

As McCain continues his attacks against Obama - trying to depict him as the anti-American Muslim, the Bill Ayers terrorist, and the Marxist socialist - the charges fail to connect with the reality.

The latest - elevating Joe the Plumber to blue-collar pundit - is another bizarre twist to a campaign that has already taken on the trappings of Michael Jackson's appearances back when he used to tow around Emmanuel and the chimp.

Obama's message resonates because the public knows that the country has flat-lined.

The folks who appeared in Obama's ad were not shiftless people who couldn't hold down jobs, welfare mothers with children from different fathers, or drug-addicted dropouts.

A teacher working two jobs to make ends meet, a retiree who watched his company walk away from its pension obligations, and a 72-year-old man going back to work to pay for his wife's medical bills - that's who we met. They are our neighbors. They are members of our family. And in some cases, they are you and me.

We saw people at the mercy of an economy that, as Obama said, "no longer honors the dignity of work."

Last night, we saw a candidate that presented a vision for America that stands in stark contrast to the Reagan years.

The veneer of unilateralism and faux patriotism has been removed to reveal a humbled Uncle Sam.