In Barack Obama's speech following his win in North Carolina, he told American voters they could choose not to be distracted by phony issues raised by Rove's Republicans and relentlessly enabled by the media. His message was directed at the fall campaign, but it was also aimed at the media, telling them he understands they're distracting the country and knows how to deal with it.

As Clinton would graciously do in her speech, Obama first addressed concerns about a divided party:

Tonight, many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided – that Senator Clinton's supporters will not support me, and that my supporters will not support her.

Well I'm here tonight to tell you that I don't believe it. Yes, there have been bruised feelings on both sides. Yes, each side desperately wants their candidate to win. But ultimately, this race is not about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John McCain. This election is about you – the American people . . .

This primary season may not be over, but when it is, we will have to remember who we are as Democrats . . . This fall, we intend to march forward as one Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country. Because we all agree that at this defining moment in history – a moment when we're facing two wars, an economy in turmoil, a planet in peril – we can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term. We need change in America.

Fox, ABC, much of CNN and MSNBC's axis of Matthews/Russert have so often polluted rather than informed the nation's political discourse, it's a wonder American voters can see through the media distractions and focus on issues important to them. But last night, Obama told voters he trusts them to see through the distractions and embrace the need for change; he hears their concerns, shares their values, because he and his family lived them:

[John McCain's] ideas for America are out of touch with these values. His plans for the future are nothing more than the failed policies of the past. And his plan to win in November appears to come from the very same playbook that his side has used time after time in election after election.

Yes, we know what's coming. We've seen it already. The same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn't agree with all their ideas. The same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives by pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy in the hope that the media will play along. The attempts to play on our fears and exploit our differences to turn us against each other for pure political gain – to slice and dice this country into Red States and Blue States; blue-collar and white-collar; white and black, and brown.

This is what they will do – no matter which one of us is the nominee. The question, then, is not what kind of campaign they'll run, it's what kind of campaign we will run. It's what we will do to make this year different. I didn't get into [this] race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it. . . .

We will end it by telling the truth – forcefully, repeatedly, confidently – and by trusting that the American people will embrace the need for change.

. . . I love this country too much to see it divided and distracted at this moment in history. I believe in our ability to perfect this union because it's the only reason I'm standing here today. And I know the promise of America because I have lived it.

No matter what happens next, this is exactly what Obama needed to say. The media spent weeks implying, but pretending not to say, that as a black man, Obama may not love his country, sympathizes with violence, is not patriotic and does not understand or relate to ordinary Americans' concerns and hopes. No credible journalist believe this nonsense, yet MSM pundits like Russert and Matthews wallowed in these false images as though somehow they might be true. As Matthews conceded, Reverend Wright helps their ratings.

Obama essentially told Americans the media pundits are enablers, an obstacle to moving the country forward, but Americans don't have to let the media distract them; they have a choice. So it was ironic listening to Tim Russert and the MSNBC gang virtually proclaim Obama the Democratic nominee. It was a moment of deserved humility, but only a moment.