Barrack Obama's nomination celebration is underway in Denver this week. After selecting Joe Biden as his running mate last week, the Democrats plan to use this week's Democratic National Convention to show a united front and a desire to dethrone the GOP by highlighting the errors of the Bush administration.

The Central Valley of California is a study in politics that mirrors the larger American electoral map. Largely agrarian, vast portions of the Valley side with the conservative principles of the Republican party. Valley Republicans value the importance of laws reflecting religious morality, the protection of individual freedoms such as the right to bear arms and to do what they want with the property they own, and put a prime importance on the government taking as little tax from it's people as possible.

Meanwhile, much more concentrated in the urban areas such as inner Sacramento or the small University outposts such as Davis, are the Democrats. Valley Dems are more likely to favor growing government power to provide social, health, and educational programs to the most disadvantaged. Democrats value the importance of laws reflecting morality, including the Christian belief in charity, hoping to institutionalize the practice through the shared responsibility of governance.

A growing segment of the population, however, does not subscribe to either party. These voters agree with somethings in each party, but not everything. Or, they may agree essentially with almost all of one party's fiscal beliefs, but not their social programs.

In many respects, Barrack Obama has made an attempt to bridge these gaps, an attempt that is inspiring and hopeful. Obama may see what so many politicians do not appreciate. The nation, although polarized between red and blue in recent elections, is no longer a country with two parties of voters. Now it is a country with independent voters deciding between two parties. As the Republicans and Democrats increasingly polarized over the last couple decades, moderates in both parties lost a voice in decision-making. John McCain himself has made a career of being separate from the general GOP mindset, now advertising himself as "the original maverick". Obama has long centered on this theme of change, which most believe set him up to eventually defeat Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

However, Obama's choice for the Vice President, Joe Biden, makes some worry his message of change is being lost in his attempt to stop McCain's surge in national polls. In fact, many experts believe Biden may actually hurt his poll numbers, as Biden is seen as a Washington insider, a poor evoker of change. In the convention this week, Obama must recapture his earlier momentum by refocusing his campaign's message on a more hopeful and prosperous future.