The Democratic evolution

Re “The West wing,” Opinion, Sept. 23

Matt Bai’s welcome recognition of the growth of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in California overlooked several important accomplishments. In the 2006 primary, Marcy Winograd won a surprising 38% of the vote in her grass-roots, antiwar, pro-civil-liberties challenge to incumbent Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who has since shown that she got the message with her more outspoken condemnation of the Bush administration. Winograd’s remarkable showing was in no small part because of the emerging effect in California and elsewhere of Progressive Democrats of America, which contributed to the Democrats winning the House and Senate in 2006.

Stephen Rohde

Los Angeles

Bai forgets to mention that “Democrats may well make history this presidential season by nominating, for the first time,” a Latino candidate who is also considered a Western candidate: Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Born here in Pasadena, Richardson exemplifies the new Western progressives Bai writes about. Bai, like much of the mainstream media, ignores Richardson and his accomplishments.

Mark Haskell Smith

Los Angeles

Since World War II, only one candidate who wasn’t from west of the Mississippi or south of the Mason-Dixon Line has been elected to the presidency, and that was 47 years ago. Ignoring the changing demographics (and, thus, electoral votes) of the U.S. has been the bane of the Democratic Party.

Margaret Holcomb

Moreno Valley

Bai provides a fascinating perspective on the emerging geographic and philosophical alignments of the Democratic Party. But his statement, “What the party will not do next year, however, for the 39th straight time since the massive territory of California won its statehood in 1850, is to select a nominee who hails from the West Coast,” isn’t technically true. Few seem to be aware that Adlai Stevenson, the scion of Illinois who was the Democrats’ presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, was born in Los Angeles.

Daniel Brin

West Hills