As I write this, the convention has not yet started. In fact, I’m on my way to Denver to help kick off the celebration. But the excitement is thick in the air. It’s a time when everyone who wants good things for our country should get involved in the political process, help shape America for the better.

I’m not new to this whole convention thing. As a member of Congress, I’ve been a super delegate at several party conventions, although this is the first year anyone took notice of what super delegates do.

So when I speak of the excitement of this convention, believe me when I say it’s a giddy time for all of us! We have the opportunity to aim the United States in an entirely new direction. We have the chance to create a new roadmap to restore the greatness that so many people around the world have come to expect from America. Behind the leadership of Barack Obama, it’s time to rebuild.

Although we’re experiencing these problems firsthand, it’s still a useful exercise to take a step back and look at where the last eight years have left us.

The most visible signs of despair come from the ongoing occupation of Iraq and from gas prices that are a drain on family income. I’ve written many times over the past several years about my feelings on the Iraq war. I still stand in extreme opposition to this war, an exercise in futility that has cost us so many lives and so many resources. I have also written a lot in just the last few months about how gas prices have become the top concern in our country, as well as how Democrats are attacking the problem with both short and long term solutions.

But what about all the other problems our new president will have to face that haven’t received as much ink in the local newspapers? Social Security will remain solvent for at least the next few decades, although Congress will have to tackle the problem at some point. More pressing is the Medicare crisis, which the Central Coast knows all too well demands immediate attention.

Doctors in Santa Cruz are being pressed by low reimbursement rates, so low that many are being forced to stop seeing new patients. The Medicare safety net is one of the most important programs the government provides. If Congress and the new president are unable to institute some form of universal health care, we will have failed to fix one of our most pressing problem.

Education is another area where we must reform our system. It has become crystal clear that the president’s No Child Left Behind initiative was a clever name wrapped around an unwieldy, ill-conceived program. We have teachers who can do little more than prepare their students for exams and we have a system of evaluating students that has no flexibility and sucks all creativity out of the classroom. We need to move beyond the clever names. We owe it to our children.

Immigration is yet another issue that needs an immediate overhaul. Our borders are not secure. We have far too many undocumented immigrants in our prisons. Agriculture and service industries are screaming for more workers, while at the same time we deport good students whose only crime was to be babies when their parents entered the country illegally. We need strong leadership from the White House to reform immigration, and we need it now.

But although you could fill a volume of books with the problems that have been neglected during the past eight years, you could fill just as many pages with the ideas and plans that have been proposed by the Democratic Party.

Over the past few days you have heard many of those ideas emanating from Denver, from many of the greatest minds this country has to offer. We still have two months until Election Day, and there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to make a difference. Whether you help register voters or just talk to your neighbors about who you think the best candidate is, I encourage you to get involved. Be a part of this excitement. Be a part of this change.

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