End of the Trail: Brownback. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

Where did the money go? Well, for one thing, Brownback bet the farm on Iowa. According to his latest campaign reports, he spent at least $300,000 on the Ames Straw Poll--not including the potentially thousands of dollars more the senator spent on “get out the vote” efforts related to the event that were not clearly identified among his expenditures. According to his Federal Election Commission filing, Brownback spent $128,900 on straw poll tickets alone--which, at $35 a pop means he bought more than 3600 tickets. Yet Brownback got just 2,192 votes that day, coming in third, so that means he likely paid for someone to vote for another candidate. Bummer. He spent nearly $20,000 on buses to bring his would-be supporters to Ames.

And that was only the beginning. Brownback paid Famous Dave’s barbecue $23,984 to cater his tent, which by the way cost $26,581 to rent. (It was huge and air conditioned--and featured a guest appearance by Stephen Baldwin, which was priceless.) And fyi, the space where the tent was set up cost $20,000 alone. Brownback didn’t slack on the entertainment either. According to his FEC reports, he spent nearly $4,100 on a playground area, featuring a dunk tank and moon bounce. (For those who got lucky and dunked the Brownback intern into the tank, you won a prize--which, by the way, cost the campaign $230.) The campaign paid the production company organizing the event $25,734. All told, Brownback spent at least $120 apiece on those who voted for him that day.

How does this compare with his top rivals at the event? Well, as the Gaggle has reported, Mitt Romney is no slouch when it comes to spending money. According to his FEC reports, his campaign spent almost $280,000 alone on buying tickets and securing his primo spot in the center of the action at the straw poll. He spent another $261,000 on bussing supporters to the event. He spent almost $34,000 on catering from Hickory Park, a legendary Ames barbecue joint. Two moon bounces and a rock climbing wall were rented for $6,162. The musical entertainment cost $10,000. It's unclear how much his tent or the massive Lollapalooza-like soundstage his campaign rented for the day cost because those aren’t clearly labeled in his FEC disbursements, but here’s a news flash: It probably cost A LOT.

And that brings us to who now in hindsight seems even more of the big winner that day: Mike Huckabee, who finished second. The former Arkansas governor is not shy when it comes to bragging about his campaign’s thrifty ways, and according to his latest FEC report, he’s not kidding. Huckabee appears to have spent less than $100,000 on the straw poll. His biggest expense was a $60,500 payout to the Republican Party of Iowa for his booth space and tickets. The entertainment was free--Huckabee’s band, Capital Offense, rocked the crowd on a stage that was leased for a mere $700. He spent $2,300 on barbecue and bused in some watermelons from Arkansas to feed the crowd. (And, btw, we don’t see any mention on his FEC reports on how much those cost.) He also got catering and event decorations from, wait for it, Sam’s Club for less than $1,000. He rented tables and food service equipment for $330. He spent zilch on buses. All told, Huckabee spent less than $40 a piece for every vote he got in Ames, which seems like a pretty good bargain to us.