Letters to the Editor: Wasting political resources

Your Sept. 13 editorial (Harris Could Win Iowa) stated that the Harris presidential campaign should focus a little more on competing in Iowa. However, any campaign involves tradeoffs for using financial and human resources.

Simple math shows why the Harris campaign should not focus on a long shot like winning Iowa. Iowa has six electoral votes. Four of the seven competitive swing states (PA, MI, NC, GA) have more than double that. In the other three, Nevada has six like Iowa, Arizona has 11, and Wisconsin has 10. Joe Biden won six of those seven states in 2020 and came within about 1% in NC! No dramatic turnaround is needed in those states.

Since South Carolina went to Trump in 2020 by almost 12 points, the only thing I can do is provide financial resources to the Harris campaign, which I have. My county voted 75% for Trump in 2020, the largest percentage of any county in South Carolina and larger than any whole state in the nation. It does not bother me that the Harris campaign does not focus on Iowa. It would be almost as foolish as spending resources hoping to win in South Carolina.

Norman Sharp, Easley, S.C.

Athletic sprawl

John Cullen’s Fillers column Sept. 13 rightly decried the rampant expansion of collegiate athletic conferences. Leagues that used to make common geographic sense have become shape-shifting amoebas that sprawl from sea to shining sea. It reminds me of the recent past when the Iowa Cubs were competing in, of all things, the Pacific Coast League in Triple A baseball. Attendance at their home games here in Des Moines is the closest I’ve come to California.

Mike Wellman, Des Moines