Of all the images from Tuesday’s historic night, this simple, intimate fist pump is the most striking:

BagnewsNotes, of course, is all over it, appreciating “Michelle’s proud, private, knowing, understated, intimate and unselfconscious expression, as well as the lack of tension in each partner’s body.”

Not only does it show the Obamas and their relationships in a good light, though, it also points the way toward victory in November.

Barack Obama’s greatest asset is his likability, and the genuine affection that he and Michelle seem to feel for each other just adds to it. In a moment like the one above — or maybe in the moment immediately following it, when he turns his smile to us — the entire audience feels like we are his friends and partners, because we can see that the “real” Barack is not so different from our own confidantes. He and Michelle demonstrate an intimacy that’s infectious.

And that’s different from Bill Clinton’s Bubbha persona or George W. Bush’s “regular guy” routine — because those were more self-conscious personal performances — clearly public gestures of sorts. The moments we have between Barack and Michelle, while certainly performances on some level as well, at least feel like extensions of a private life.

Their relationship reminds me of another inspiring political couple, John and Abigail Adams:

Check back in a few days for an upcoming review of the “John Adams” HBO miniseries (coming out on DVD next week). I won’t be spoiling much, though, to say that what is most remarkable about the story of John Adams — which David McCullough made the center of his book (on which the miniseries is based) — is the emotional and intellectual companionship he found in Abigail.

Not only did she provide political guidance for him throughout his public career, but their relationship made an impression on George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as well as the public at large.

The relationship of Michelle and Barack holds out a similar promise — and can have a similar impact.

For all our talk about this being an historic moment — that somehow America has entered some type of “post-racial” age — I fear the general election might very well prove the media pontificators wrong. I can’t help but feel that the problem that Appalachians and others have with Obama has a great deal to do with race, and overcoming their reluctance will take more than simply showing he has a great plan for overcoming the mortgage crisis.

What it will take is seeing Obama as a human being — and the “fist pump” and other moments between Obama and Michelle are great places to start.

The lesson of “Huck Finn” — another landmark American story which had its own great friendship between Huck and Jim at its core — was the power of intimacy to overcome prejudice. I always tell my students that we can see that novel as an allegory of hope for America, with Huck and Jim pointing us down the path of our own redemption.

Obama’s strategists need to make sure they understand the power of intimacy as well.

(photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)