Your editorial "Trump's speech, Clinton's veep" (July 23) suggests that Hillary Clinton's selection of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate shows how conventional and cautious she is because Mr. Kaine is not "progressive" enough.
Do you know much about Tim Kaine? He took off time from Harvard Law school to be a missionary in Honduras, where he helped run a school for impoverished residents.
He worked as a civil rights advocate. He has a 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood and a zero rating from the National Rifle Association.
He has a passionate commitment to gun regulation and he is an advocate for interest-free college education.
The Democrats need to win this election more so than at any time in a generation. There may be other more progressive vice presidential picks, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, but Democrats must appeal to independents and undecided voters, many of whom will not find someone on the left acceptable.
Progressive Democrats need to worry less about ideology and more about winning the election. Certainly Sen. Bernie Sanders has shown us that.
Liz Dunn, Parkville