“Having Sarah Huckabee on with Pawlenty is a big deal,” said Susan Geddes, Huckabee’s 2008 grassroots director, who has been courted by every campaign except Gingrich and Romney. “I have heard a few people say, ‘Oh, I wonder what that means,’ and they’re looking at Pawlenty again.”

Still, among operatives, Bachmann has the lead — her two top national aides, director Ed Rollins and press secretary Alice Stewart, are Huckabee veterans, and in Iowa, she’s hired Wes Enos, Huckabee’s state political director, as well as Barbara Heki, who after the 2008 campaign led the charge to oust state supreme court judges who green-lighted same-sex marriage. Plus, she’s got state Sen. Kent Sorenson on board, providing major inroads to the local base…

Huckabee’s own intentions are hard to read. Pawlenty, Cain, Santorum, Gingrich and Bachmann have all been guests on his Fox News show, and he’s been generally positive about them all. The guitar-playing host has even jammed with Rep. Thad McCotter, who launched a presidential campaign himself last week that’s counting in large part on the support of Christian conservatives. Though he could probably coalesce his old support behind one candidate and anoint a clear Romney alternative through an endorsement, the former governor has so far declined to do so.

“He’s kind of pledged to be neutral, but I think if he believes his endorsement might help, I think he’d go with it,” said Vander Plaats.