3. STEALTH HELP: The work that a grass-roots group called Organize4Palin is doing on an unofficial, volunteer capacity in Iowa and other states rivals what some campaigns have done with paid staff, said Shane Vander Hart, 39, of Pleasant Hill, who writes the blog Caffeinated Thoughts.

4. FIRING UP THE BASE: Palin would motivate the Iowa GOP base and excite those uninspired by the current field, Hudson said. “She would bring a populist flair to the 2012 primary, which has seemingly been lacking from the field, despite Republican ire with President Obama,” he said…

6. MONEY MAGNET: Unlike some candidates, Palin is running on free media right now without a money-eating campaign infrastructure. SarahPAC has reported impressive totals ($1.67 million this year, the Open Secrets website shows) without putting much effort into it, Vander Hart said.

If she runs, Palin can easily harvest small online donations, but she won’t be able to finance a campaign with $25 and $50 Internet donations. Gross doesn’t think that will be a problem: “Some very large national givers who otherwise would not give will find ways to get her what she needs.”