Move over Mitt Romney! The winner at the Iowa GOP’s Ames real estate auction as of Thursday was Rep. Ron Paul, who placed the highest bid for a straw poll location and came away with the spot Romney had in 2008, spending $31,000.
But the big story here — other than Paul’s price tag — is the runner-up, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, whose “mystery participant” status at the auction drummed up a lot of pre-bidding gossip between representatives for Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum before the auction, and caused a few nervous pauses during the proceedings. The mystery shopper that day was Kellie Paschke, a lobbyist who was bidding on McCotter’s behalf.
This is probably the clearest sign of McCotter’s intentions to run in 2012 – but it’s not as though there haven’t been other hints along the way. In April, McCotter was the only member of Michigan’s congressional delegation to not confirm he was running for re-election, and in May he confirmed to Politico that he has his eye on the White House.
McCotter reportedly spent just over $18,000 on his Straw Poll plot, but he has not officially declared his candidacy.
