Jonty30,
When I did volunteer work for Ben Sasse 2014 and McCain 2008 I’ve spoken to those who are in the campaign business about this (in a general sense). These were rather insightful conversations.
According to the organizers past experiences, a full staff can be brought on in a matter of a few weeks to a month tops. Palin has the potential to raise money and create buzz withing the base so finding talent/volunteers won’t be an issue.
As to local infrastructure (state/county) that exists today in a variety of political groups but it’s a matter of reaching out and “touching base” with them. This is what’s known as “meet and great” and the “rubber chicken circuit”. To get an idea, see what a candidate’s itinerary is and what groups he/she is making connections with.
The rubber circuit takes time. That’s not something that you can start on a Friday and finish by Monday. Maybe at the state level you can do that, but you would need a weekend at each state.
My position inherently anti-Palin. She knows what it takes to run a national campaign. If she were running for office, she’d be doing everything that everybody else has to do.
I get the fervency of tea-partiers, and I would be one myself if I were an American.