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Pawlenty goes 'all in' for Iowa

Natalie Gonnella
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With just four weeks to go before the crucial Ames straw poll, Tim Pawlenty still has a lot to prove to Hawkeye voters. And with recent Iowa surveys offering disappointing outcomes, the former Minnesota governor appears willing to bet his campaign on next month's event, launching the most expensive media buy yet of the 2012 election cycle in effort to drum up support. ABC News reports:

Tim Pawlenty has reserved around $200,000 of TV advertising in the Des Moines media market starting Monday and running through the straw poll, a source familiar with the ad buy told ABC News.

On Monday, Pawlenty starts a five-day RV swing through the Hawkeye State. The new ad purchase by the former Minnesota governor -- who has a lot riding on Ames -- is the biggest to date in the 2012 race. He had previously run TV ads in Iowa and this week launched a radio ad touting a video about his faith.

And as Ben Smith noted on Politico:

This brings his total television, cable and radio spending in Iowa up to about $400,000.

His buy goes right up to August 12, the day before the crucial Ames straw poll that will serve as a test of viability for Pawlenty's campaign.

With Pawlenty consistently trailing competitors like Romney and Bachmann in both opinion polls and fundraising totals, and with the growing possibility of Rick Perry and Rudy Giuliani entering the race, it will be interesting to see how the former governor's campaign could progress (for better or for worse) as a result of the August event.

The most expensive Republican votes

By Natalie Gonnella and Tim Montgomerie

The Washington Post has calculated how much money different candidates spent for every vote they won.

The most expensive campaign, per vote, was run by the GOP candidate in Nevada. Sharron Angle spent $97 per vote on her unsuccessful campaign. That's $28 more per vote than Harry Reid, her successful opponent.

The second highest spender per vote was also a defeated Republican; Linda McMahon in Connecticut. She also spent near $97 but 49 cents less than Angle.

Although Meg Whitman ran the most expensive GOP campaign in total - $140 million - her average spend per voter was much less at just over $40.

The thriftiest campaign was run by Republican Minnesotan Chip Craavack. He spent $5 for every vote he received.

Read the full Washington Post piece.