In their town-hall-style encounter in Nashville, Barack Obama dominated the debate about economic issues as thoroughly as Bill Clinton bested George H. W. Bush in 1992 and Ronald Reagan overwhelmed Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Just as Reagan is remembered for asking "Are you better off now than you were...

Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech signaled a subtle shift in his message from the lofty and lyrical "change we can believe in" to the more detailed and down-to-earth "change that we need."

Obama's speech was unusually specific not only about what he wants to do but also about whose...