DES MOINES, Iowa --As Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann makes the rounds in Iowa on Friday, Republican officials and grassroots activists here are largely united in their belief that she is very serious about considering a presidential run and has already begun conducting the significant statewide outreach that is required to launch an effective campaign.

ABC News broke the story earlier this month that Bachmann was considering a campaign and would deliver the keynote address for a meeting hosted by Iowans for Tax Relief, an influential advocacy group in the nation's first voting state. Bachmann's communications director Doug Sachtleben told RealClearPolitics that the outspoken congresswoman's initial float has been well received.

"It's certainly something that people are encouraging her to do," Sachtleben said of a potential presidential campaign. "Ever since the story came out, it's been very positive feedback."

Bachmann will speak for about a half hour on Friday in front of an expected crowd of about 200 and a substantial national media presence.

Rather than focusing on the specific policy debates of the moment, Bachmann's speech will focus on broad themes about the direction of the country and will include references to one of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's favorite topics: the concept of American exceptionalism.

"She's somebody who's credible, and that's what our people like to hear," Iowans for Tax Relief president Ed Failor, Jr., said. "The status quo is what's gotten us where we are, and she's someone who doesn't fit the status quo."

Bachmann will spend just one day in Iowa, but she has scheduled private meetings with key Republican powerbrokers in the state and grassroots activists, including Ryan Rhodes, the 28-year-old president of the Iowa Tea Party.

In an interview with RealClearPolitics, Rhodes listed Bachmann as one of his two preferred potential presidential candidates -- the other being Indiana Rep. Mike Pence -- and said that he has already been in touch with the congresswoman's aides.

"I would advise Bachmann to get in immediately," Rhodes said. "She needs to at least start letting people know she's going down that road."

Though she is not as well-known nationally as several of the other likely candidates, if she were to launch a presidential campaign, Bachmann would bring to the table her fundraising prowess, which stunned the political world when she raised an historic $13.2 million for her 2010 re-election campaign.

Bachmann also enjoys a tight kinship with Iowa Rep. Steve King -- a potentially formidable endorser whose 5th District encompasses the western and most conservative part of the state.

If Bachmann were to enter the race early, she could potentially reap the benefits of filling a niche among tea party-affiliated voters who are looking to get behind a fiery true believer.

Rhodes, the state's tea party president, said that while he could see himself potentially supporting Palin under certain circumstances, he does not believe that she could win if Bachmann were also in the race.

"People don't have the same questions with Bachmann that they do with Palin," Rhodes added. "They don't question why she resigned."

However, Palin does carry certain clear advantages over Bachmann. The former Alaska governor enjoys universal name recognition and perhaps an unrivaled ability to inspire intense loyalty and passion among her core supporters -- a particularly key asset in a caucus state like Iowa.

But in conversations with several Iowa Republicans here this week, there was broad agreement that Palin and Bachmann would each find it far more difficult to carve out a sizable slice of the electorate if they were both to end up as candidates.