Barbour reportedly advising Perry on 2012 bid

Haley Barbour has been cagey about when or who he might endorse in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, but there are hints he may be leaning toward Rick Perry.

A Republican source tells Roll Call's David M. Drucker the Mississippi governor has been privately advising Perry on his 2012 bid, revealing the two have been in "constant contact."

This comes just weeks after Barbour said he wasn't sure he would endorse in the primary. "I'm not sure that I'll even take sides in the primaries," Barbour told The Washington Post's Dan Balz. "If Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had run, I would have been for him. There's nobody else I feel that strongly about."

A spokesman for Barbour didn't immediately respond to request for comment about the Roll Call report, but in an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, the governor reiterated that he plans to stay out of the primary.

"I'm not advising any candidate," Barbour insisted.

The Mississippi governor had considered his own bid for the Republican nomination but bypassed the race in April. Now, it appears much of his former campaign team is going to work for Perry.

Last month, Henry Barbour, the governor's nephew and a key Republican operative, threw his support behind Perry. Meanwhile, Randy Enwright, a top GOP strategist in Florida who previously backed Barbour, is expected to join Perry's campaign.

"Haley's organization is becoming a part of Perry's," a GOP source tells Drucker.

A Perry spokesman didn't immediately respond to request for comment from The Ticket. But it wouldn't be surprising if Barbour did end up supporting Perry. The two governors have been close political allies for years. Perry succeeded Barbour as head of the Republican Governors Association last year.