The hopes and dreams of a nation are being played out right before our eyes. Boston is again the Hub of the Universe, and the decisions made here this week will be felt by citizens for a long time.

The Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter?

No. I’m talking about the Red Sox, of course. They’re getting ready to hit the road for 12 long games, a two-week road trip that will take them right through the trade deadline.

We’ve been speculating over what will happen before July 31st, the non-waiver trade deadline, but it’s looking more and more like the Sox will not be able to pull off a mega-blockbuster deal before that date.

There will be some sort of movement, but not an earth-shattering deal that single-handedly restores the confidence of Red Sox Nation.

The road has not been kind to the Sox. They’ve stumbled miserably away from Fenway, going 21-26.

Judging from the frustrating West Coast trip that started the post-All-Star Game schedule, there’s no reason to expect things to get better on this swing.

Except for one thing. This team is still loaded with talent. There’s a reason the Sox have the second highest payroll in baseball: it’s because they have a roster filled with players many teams would love to have.

Obviously, they haven’t been playing to their potential. “I think we need to battle a little bit harder,” said Gabe Kapler after Wednesday night’s demoralizing loss to Baltimore. The part-time outfielder went on to describe his team as “semi-lifeless.”

That’s a far cry from last year’s team. Yes, the “Cowboy Up” stuff got old, but the 2003 Sox were anything but lifeless. I’m asked daily what the biggest difference is between this year’s team and the ALCS runners up of a year ago.

It may come as a surprise, but at this point in time there is very little difference from the team of a year ago. Heading into the weekend series with the Yankees, the Sox were three wins behind their 2003 pace.

The current team was neck-and-neck with Oakland in the Wild Card standings; a year ago they were neck-and-neck with Seattle in that same race.

We tend to look back at last year as this magical season from start to finish. It just wasn’t so. Last year’s team struggled mightily until the final six weeks of the season. In fact, the Sox lost nine out of 13 from August 8-20, and had fallen behind the Mariners in the wild card race. It wasn’t until the Sox swept a four-game series from Seattle (Aug. 22-25) that Boston really began to build some momentum for the post-season run. That’s when the good things started to happen, like the memorable Labor Day win in Philadelphia (with Manny on the bench) that saw the Sox rally in the ninth for a 13-9 victory. The Sox went 24-12 in that span, including a 10-5 mark on the road.

Just don’t think it was a wire-to-wire joy ride. The Sox were out of the wild card lead as late in the season as September 3rd.

Point is, as bad as things are, they’re not much worse than they were last year. The biggest difference is that expectations are higher, and rightfully so. The addition of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke made this team a contender not just for the wild card, but for the first World Championship since you-know-when. You’ve got to make the playoffs before you can win it all, and the Florida Marlins are a pretty good reminder that it doesn’t matter how you get into the post-season. You’ve just got to get there.

Of course, if these Red Sox don’t start playing better, they won’t get there. Just remember there’s plenty of time to make it happen. This road trip would be a very good place to start.

Lewiston native Tom Caron covers the Red Sox for NESN.