I am honored to be able to attend the Democratic National Convention this week. I was present in 2008 when Hillary Clinton addressed the convention right here in Colorado. I remember her speaking about the need for unity and real action to make the lives of many Americans better. During her 2008 speech, Clinton posed the question, “Were you in this campaign just for me … Or were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on a minimum wage … were you in it for all of the people in this country who feel invisible?” I expect that she will again touch on that message tomorrow night when she accepts the nomination in Philadelphia.

The truth is that the Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine ticket has a real vision for America. Throughout the campaign, we have seen Hillary champion true progressive policies – gun control, raising the minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, protection for the LGBT community and an economy that works for all of us. Sen. Kaine, too speaks to those issues and passionately endorses them. Locally, I campaigned on these very same issues. I heard often from the voters in my district that these were the issues that mattered to every day Coloradans. 

This forward-looking and progressive agenda is in stark contrast to what we saw at last week’s Republican convention. That convention, and every speaker there, preyed upon and fueled people’s fears and anxieties and offered not a single solution. Sure, we have many serious issues to counter – terrorism both at home and abroad, an economic recovery that has left some behind and tension in race relations. But I am hopeful and look forward to continued substantive conversations and true policy solutions about these issues and more at this week’s Democratic National Convention.

The Clinton/Kaine ticket not only brings more competence to the race and far better temperament, it also offers substantive, bold and progressive solutions. We need that in our country in a serious way – progressive values and real action.