Mike Huckabee consults with SC supporters about 2012

Mike Huckabee still won't say if he's planning to make a second bid for the White House, but the former Arkansas governor continues to consult with top allies about a potential 2012 run.

As Real Clear Politics' Scott Conroy reports today, Huckabee recently sat down with some of his top 2008 supporters and advisers in South Carolina--a state that could prove pivotal to his presidential ambitions should he choose to run again.

'I think he's going run," GOP strategist Mike Campbell, who was in the meeting, tells RCP. "I think at the end of the day, he will."

The meeting, which took place last month as Huckabee was on a book tour in the state, comes amid word that the ex-governor turned Fox News host has recently been reaching out to donors and other GOP activists about a 2012 run.

In South Carolina, some of the discussion centered around whether Huckabee could make a late entrance into the race and still make a viable bid for the GOP nomination. Huckabee has said he won't make a decision about 2012 until later this summer--a decision that will give a major head start to several of his potential opponents, including Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

His advisers in the state seem to believe Huckabee could win--though rivals disagree, citing recent straw polls in the state where ex-governor barely registered. But just like the former governor's supporters in Iowa, people in South Carolina pressing Huckabee to run are stuck in a waiting game.

"I don't think there's any doubt that he is seriously considering it," former Gov. David Beasley tells Conroy. "I don't think there's any question that encouragement from South Carolina voters and leaders will influence him."

(Photo of Huckabee: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)