On a national level, Rollins has gotten verbal agreements from experienced Republican operatives who would join the team. A political director, fundraising team, media team, communications director, press staff, policy shop and opposition research outfit are locked and loaded. Serious discussions with a respected national pollster are ongoing, and several national Republican operatives have told RealClearPolitics that they've gotten calls with the message: "This thing is happening. Do you want to be a part of it?"

David Beasley, a former governor of South Carolina who would chair Huckabee's efforts in the Palmetto State, said he has spoken directly with Huckabee several times in the past month, and had a serious discussion with him several days ago.

Beasley said he phoned Huckabee last week after it had been reported that he had "released" some of the staffers on his first campaign to work for other candidates and asked Huckabee to explain. Some in Huckabee's circle believe that those lines are being fed by former staffers who have gone on to other campaigns and need Huckabee to stay out of the race so it doesn't hurt their own candidates' chances. What's more, the South Carolinian said it may have been true a year ago when Huckabee seemed less destined to run, but it isn't now.

The gathering national team has a different take, though. Rollins has worked on nine presidential campaigns and has developed many contacts over that time, and he has recruited a team over the last four months that will be ready to roll if Huckabee pulls the trigger.

As a consequence of that more professional, experienced team, some of the players who surrounded Huckabee last time aren't necessarily needed anymore. In other words, Huckabee was an upstart last time and couldn't attract top-tier talent, and he didn't even have some of the most significant leaders of the religious right on board when he started in 2007.

In the years since, he's authored best-selling books and scared up millions of viewers for his TV show. Team Huckabee maintains a list of 7 million donors who are responding to his fundraising requests. More than 40,000 Iowans picked him in the 2008 caucuses, and those in Huckabee's inner circle expect that his daughter, Sarah Huckabee, will run the operation for her father in the Hawkeye State this time, coming off of her successful role in managing Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman's 2010 race.

Noting Barbour's decision not to run, Beasley said, "I think the landscape is conducive for a Mike Huckabee entrance. Right now, we're putting together the team and putting the word out that Mike Huckabee is seriously considering this race."

He added that with Huckabee's current national notoriety, "this time around it's a whole different ballgame. He's in a good position at this stage of the process."