New York, Aug. 29 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday night, has proved that he has his foot firmly planted on the ground, and has successfully connected with the American people, a senior television journalist has said.

Vaughn Ververs, a senior political editor with the website CBSNEWS. com, said in an article for the network that Obama’s speech has raised “expectations to heights that not even the Colorado altitude could match.”

He said that the prospective presidential candidate brought the night back down to ground level in a direct attempt to connect with the concerns of everyday Americans.

A candidate known -- fairly or not - for his soaring rhetoric delivered a speech heavy on specific policy points, themes of broad values, and empathy for the daily challenges faced by many, Ververs said.

He further said that the Democratic convention in Denver was designed to introduce voters to a candidate many still remain unsure of; to create a stark contrast with John McCain; to heal divisions within his own party; and to convince a bulk of undecided or wavering voters that his concerns are no different from theirs.

“With his speech tonight, Obama succeeded in wrapping all those goals up in a neat and effective package,” Ververs said, adding that it wasn’t an easy task for a man speaking from a raised platform among a sea of adoring delegates.

Despite marking the 45th anniversary of the march on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, and despite standing on a stage flanked with Roman columns, Obama brought down his candidacy down to ground level.

“Mixing criticism of McCain with his own specific proposals, the speech was much more like something you would hear at most any campaign stop and less like what you would encounter in a history book,” Ververs said.

Unlike any candidate in modern history, Obama has created his own mythos, wrapped up in the greatest and most shining examples from the nation’s past. He sought to dispel the notion that he was a celebrity political upstart by saying, "I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you."

Obama shed those ethereal connections for policy and down to earth political pronouncements. Talking about health care, education, taxes, energy and parental responsibility, among other topics, the candidate hit on the topics voters say they are most concerned about. And when it came time to respond to the charge that he’s not prepared to be commander in chief, Obama issued a familiar, if yet unfulfilled, challenge.

Ververs believes that there is plenty in the speech for Republicans to pick apart at their convention in St. Paul next week, but adds that they will be hard-pressed to match the intensity, the specificity and the effectiveness of Obama in Denver. (ANI)