A certain (Liberal perhaps) North American to the west (8)
I believe the answer is:
angeleno
'a certain liberal perhaps north american to the west' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'a certain liberal perhaps north american to the west' is the wordplay.
'a certain' becomes 'one' (ie one particular example of something).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'perhaps' becomes 'eg' (for example).
'north american' becomes 'na'.
'to the west' is a reversal indicator (letters written right to left or 'east to west').
'one'+'l'+'eg'+'na'='onelegna'
'onelegna' written backwards gives 'ANGELENO'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for angeleno that I've seen before include "Man from west coast" , "Native of LA" , "North American citizen" , "man from LA" , "US citizen)" .)