Bachmann confirmed those reports on Wednesday, telling CBS News that the idea struck her as ludicrous because she is polling ahead of both Santorum and Perry in Iowa.

{mosads}Vander Plaats said his conversations with the candidates came long before he decided to back Santorum — and before the organization of social conservatives he leads, the Family Leader, made its decision to stay neutral in the primary.

Pointing to an inability by social conservatives to agree on which candidate to back, Vander Plaats said he worried his constituency’s voice would get diluted, and reached out to numerous campaigns to gauge their willingness to consider teaming up.

“There’s a lot of divided support, and we’re quite frankly afraid we’re going to get what the Iowa caucus-goers don’t want,” he said. “And that is that Mitt Romney could win the Iowa caucuses.”