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Gov. Gary Herbert most likely wouldn't be where he is today if Jon Huntsman Jr. didn't ask him to be his running mate back in 2004. But that doesn't necessarily mean Herbert is going to be a big Huntsman supporter if the now-ambassador to China decides to run for president in 2012.

"He hasn't asked me for any counsel and advice, and why would he? As far as I know it's just speculation," Herbert said during a quick trip to Washington, D.C. "I'm on record. I supported Mitt Romney in the past, and I've encouraged him to run again."

Herbert added: "Hey, for me, a Romney-Huntsman ticket has some appeal. Who knows what will happen?"

Then he thought about it for a second and decided to add: "Maybe not necessarily in that order either."

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Hatch has more Klout • Sen. Orrin Hatch is narrowly leading Rep. Jason Chaffetz, at least in his success using Twitter.

Klout.com ranks the influence of a Twitter account on a scale of 1 to 100 by tracking the number of followers and the number of times people pass along those tweets, among other measures.

Hatch, who as of Friday had nearly 15,000 followers, received a score of 64 and the title "thought leader."

Chaffetz, a potential 2012 challenger to Hatch, has a little more than 14,000 followers and a Klout ranking of 60, which means he is still a "specialist" with a "highly-engaged audience."

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Perfect score • One of the most watched conservative scorecards gave top marks to Utah's members of Congress, which Hatch's staff promoted vigorously.

Hatch, who is up in 2012, was one of 12 Republican senators to score a perfect rating from the American Conservative Union for votes cast in 2010. During his 34 years in the Senate, Hatch has a lifetime rating of 89.47.

Not to be outdone, Reps. Rob Bishop and Chaffetz were among the more than 70 House Republicans who received 100 out of 100 points for opposing health reform, an extension of unemployment benefits and the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," among other votes.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who was not re-elected, came in at 86, partially because he voted against an earmark moratorium and didn't want restrictions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac included in financial regulatory reform. And Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, may be considered a conservative Democrat, but that didn't impress the ACU. He scored a mere 17.

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Burr and Canham report for The Tribune from Washington, D.C. They can be reached at tburr@sltrib.com or mcanham@sltrib.com or via Twitter @thomaswburr or @mattcanham.