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"He has certainly worked hard and gotten himself out there and been to almost every county, and he's got a good handle of the relational and structural dynamics of what's taking place," Rogers said. "If she were to announce, I think the grass-roots campaign that's already there would kick into high gear, and it would be not far behind -- if not ahead of -- all the campaigns that are out there now."

Madison County GOP Chairman Joe Van Ginkel, who attended the film premiere in Pella at Singleton's invitation, said that he is officially neutral in the race but would likely back Palin if she were to get in. Like Rogers, Van Ginkel has been impressed with the scope of Organize4Palin's reach in the state.

"The funny thing is she hasn't declared, but they're set up better than anybody," he said.

The Clock Is Ticking

But even with someone as unconventional as Palin, certain exigencies of the political calendar still apply. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton did not officially launch their successful presidential campaigns until the fall, but each future president had done significant behind-the-scenes legwork before then, and even Palin's most ardent Iowa supporters generally agree with the prevailing wisdom that a post-Labor Day launch would be exceedingly difficult to pull off.

"Having worked on three caucus campaigns myself in the past, she's going to have to have a structure to it if she wants to run because it's all about talking to people not once, but two, three, four times," Steve Scheffler, the president of the influential Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, told RCP. "Surrogates can do that to some extent, but in the end, the candidate is going to have to make the closing deal."

Organize4Palin's volunteers insist they are not just tilting at windmills. Instead of using their limited resources primarily to target elected officials and established operatives, for instance, Singleton and his crew have devoted more of their time and energy toward making significant inroads with the burgeoning Iowa tea party.

Craig Bergman, a state tea party stalwart who has worked in politics for 20 years, including stints on the Alan Keyes and Ron Paul presidential campaigns, said that Palin is well positioned to make some serious noise. "Her grass-roots support is times 10 what Ron Paul's is," Bergman said. "The Ron Paul people are very intense but narrowly focused, whereas Palin attracts lawyers, doctors, soccer moms, business people, young people, all across the gamut. They're not as rabidly intense, but there are many, many more of them."

Bergman predicted that Palin would be the front-runner in Iowa "the minute she declares," which he expects her to do, in part to preserve her political brand that he says will die out if she instead sticks to the cable-TV and paid-speech circuit and lets down the devoted supporters who are counting on her candidacy.

"People are looking for someone who is a leader -- someone who will take the fight on the issues to Obama," Bergman said before dismissing the idea that Palin would suffer from being perceived as unelectable. "A lawn chair could beat Barack Obama with 10 percent unemployment and $4 a gallon gas. That means Jon Huntsman could do it; that means probably anybody but Mitt Romney, because RomneyCare is so demotivating."

Palin would need about 30 days to organize ahead of the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13, according to Bergman, who believes that she should participate in the traditional early demonstration of support.

Organize4Palin has not yet decided whether to lead a major straw poll push, but Singleton said that he has no doubt about Palin's willingness to hit the ground hard once she gets in.

"We're happy to have the other guys completely underestimate us or completely not see what we're doing, because first of all, they have formidable resources that we don't have," he said. "Also, we plan for the other guys to bring their 'A' game and make no mistakes. But when they make unforced errors like underestimating what we're doing, that's great."