The potential remains that they might scatter among multiple candidates, opening an avenue for a candidate less focused on abortion and marriage issues to win the caucuses here, some prominent Iowa social conservatives say.

If there is any trend yet among Huck fans, though, it’s a gravitation toward Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann, whose brimstone-and-fire politics have made them sit up straight in their seats and pay attention. If she were to succeed in picking up a large bloc of the state’s religious right, a group that propelled Huckabee’s 2008 Iowa caucuses victory, it would be a major boost in her effort to win here and seize momentum for contests in later states.

Of the Huckabee supporters interviewed by The Des Moines Register, the majority said they’re receptive to overtures from Bachmann, who made her bid for the White House official Monday. But most said she’s not even close to sewing up their votes in the nation’s leadoff voting contest, scheduled for Feb. 6.