Buying Votes

Not quite, not quite:

Third-place finisher Sam Brownback says he spent about $325,000 to win his 2,192 votes. That's $148.27 for each vote. Second-place finisher Mike Huckabee spent about $150,000 and received 2,587 votes. That's $57.98 per vote.  Winner Mitt Romney has not said how much he spent. The reporting in this Washington Post article suggests at least $2 million and possibly more than twice that much. Assuming $2 million for 4,516 votes, that's $442.87 per vote. But it could top $1,000.(my emphasis added)

Pricey, aren't they, them Iowans?

Unfortunately for the American taxpayer this is a gross underestimate of what it costs to buy votes in Iowa. No politician would win a vote there arguing against the Farm Bill ($50 billion and change either way?), arguing against idiocies like ethanol (yet more billions and lots of change) and so on.

4,500 votes? Let's be generous and say it only cost $10 million per vote.

Unfortunately, that's $10 million of taxpayers' money, not $10 million of Mitt Romney's, nor even of Mitt Romney's supporters.