Bachmann PAC snags top '08 Huckabee aide

Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) political action committee has hired away a former top aide to Mike Huckabee's 2008 campaign in Iowa.

Wes Enos, the political director for the former Arkansas governor's winning Iowa caucus campaign, will now serve as a consultant to MichelePAC in the state, Bachmann's chief of staff, Andy Parrish, confirms. 

It's a big hire for Bachmann, who is weighing a 2012 bid for president and is expected to form an official exploratory committe by early summer. Bachmann raised a combined $2.2 million during the first quarter of the year between her House committee and federal political action committee (PAC) and is already putting together a campaign team in Iowa and South Carolina.

The hiring of Enos is also another sign that Huckabee won't make a run at the presidency in 2012. His former Iowa campaign manager, Eric Woolson, is already on board as an adviser to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Several of the state's top strategists say the '08 caucus winner is running out of time if he's serious about a campaign next year, and activists are grumbling about his lack of presence in the state. Still, Huckabee insists that he hasn't ruled out a campaign just yet, and he won a straw poll in South Carolina over the weekend.