To the Editor:

Re “Gender and War Dominate Debate by 6 Democrats” (front page, Jan. 15):

I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and, as Bernie Sanders has pointed out, she received three million more votes than Donald Trump, proving that a woman can win the popular vote.

It is disappointing that Elizabeth Warren, facing polls that show she may no longer be in the lead, has resorted to playing the “gender card” by making allegations that Mr. Sanders questioned a woman’s electability at a private meeting in 2018.

For most Democrats, the most important thing in this election is defeating Mr. Trump. The polls show that Bernie Sanders, among others, can beat Mr. Trump. But there would be nothing wrong with raising for discussion the difficulties, in the real world, that a democratic socialist would face in the general election.

The same is true with respect to a woman candidate, or, for example, if there were one in the race, the difficulties an atheist would face, regardless of how competent. Ms. Warren appears to be developing a track record of going negative when the polls start to bring bad news.