Be proud Napa: one of your own is going to Denver as one of California’s 241 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer.

Last Sunday, both delegate caucuses for Congressional Dist. 1 -- stretching from American Canyon out to the Sacramento valley and up to the Oregon border -- were held for both Sens. Clinton and Obama right here in Napa. Out of 53 candidates who applied to be delegates for Obama, only three and an alternate could be chosen. At the top of that list is Napa resident and tireless Democratic activist Tracy Krumpen.

In the interest of disclosure, I was also a delegate candidate but I was not elected -- which is as it should be. When I was president of the Democrats of Napa Valley, I had a chance to appreciate up close the amount of work someone like Tracy volunteers to the cause of democracy. By estimates she has registered at least 2,000 Napa County residents in the last two years, has been a delegate to the state Democratic Party convention and has sacrificed copious shoe leather to walking precincts in order to motivate others to step up to their obligations in the democratic process.

Tracy and the other elected delegates have worked harder than all other comers for the right to represent Dist.1 Democrats to this most important convention.

The big win for me was the chance to participate in the Caucus. It was a very well organized event spearheaded by local teacher Jacques Juilliard out at the fairgrounds on a perfect Napa spring afternoon. I got the chance to meet several of my readers -- which is always encouraging and enjoyable -- and many of the other candidates seeking the opportunity to go to Denver.

Among the candidates was a minister from Davis and the mother of a Marine who is about to be shipped back for another tour in Iraq.

There were senior party activists, one who withdrew his name as a candidate as he had already attended four DNC conventions and wanted to give someone else a turn -- and young students, some who drove five hours down from Humboldt to be there. In the end, it all came down to unity and a desire to make sure our votes were ensured to Obama in Denver.

Ultimately, I’m a bit of an American pragmatist. Just as our Founders agreed on a ‘president' -- an executive administrator who was understood to be a real person, distinct from the European monarchy’s notions of a divinely selected regent -- I don’t have any illusions about the next president’s humanity. There are no saviors in the current crop of candidates. What it comes down to is who best represents what we want to see for our country.

To my way of thinking, the country is struggling right now. A faltering economy that increasingly serves only the needs of corporations and the ultra-wealthy; the largest rate of home foreclosures since the Great Depression; a draining campaign in Iraq that shows no end in sight and is straining our military while wracking up an unimaginable debt; and crumbling schools and infrastructure. There is only one way this election can be positioned: change versus constancy.

Sen. McCain has staked out constancy and, in order to win his party’s nomination, has pledged to perpetuate the policies that have led us to these difficulties.

Sen. Clinton has repeatedly asserted that experience she claims to have and that Sen. Obama does not -- is the principle requirement to be president. In this she has painted herself into an unwinnable corner: if she was to somehow win the Democratic nomination she will up against John McCain who has much more tangible experience than she does. All the McCain campaign will have to do is run clips of Clinton talking about experience from now until November in order to win.

Only Obama represents a 21st century sensibility. It doesn’t mean his policy positions are wildly different right now or that he will save the country. But he does reflect to me an understanding that the national dialogue desperately needs to change, that old ideological entrenchments fail to address contemporary challenges. Simply put, only Barack Obama represents the possibility for real change.

So with that, I feel confident that Tracy and the other delegates will go to Denver, dig in their heels and keep fighting until my vote and the votes of the majority of Dist.1 Democrats who voted for Obama in the primary are heard and counted.