In 1979, according to history books and some of the people who were alive back then, Ronald Reagan, with that folksy Hollywood brand he had going, somehow convinced working class Americans that the Republican party was looking out for their interests as well as the interests of their millionaire bosses. Suddenly the guys who owned and ran the factories with their suits and power ties and the guys and gals who filed into them every day with their lunchboxes and hard hats were all on the same team: everybody was Reagan Republicans, cuz it was morning in America and he was good looking and patriotic and he slashed taxes and corporate oversight and busted unions and all the factories closed down and moved away and now we alls work at Wal-Mart.

That’s one version of the story, anyway. Barack Obama makes quick unarticulated reference to that history in this ad. Obama may be the anti-Reagan, opposite in every way, but similarly able to redefine the debate and maybe win back the people that got fooled in that long long ago.