Haley Barbour to big GOP donors: Don’t commit until on 2012 until I decide

For months, only two likely Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential campaign—former governors Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty—were actively recruiting wealthy Republicans to raise money for them. But in recent weeks, other potential GOP candidates have begun courting the party’s top bankrollers.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is now calling wealthy Republicans to ask them to “keep their powder dry,” as one donor put it, until he decides whether he will run. Mr. Barbour traveled Wednesday to the early-primary state of South Carolina to meet with prominent Republicans…

Thus far, Mr. Romney appears to have coaxed the most major bundlers to his side, working off an extensive network established in his unsuccessful 2008 campaign. Mr. Romney’s efforts are being organized by Spencer Zwick, a Salt Lake City native who is close to the Romney family. Mr. Zwick is a managing partner at Solamere Capital, an investment fund he founded with one of Mr. Romney’s sons…

Though Indiana’s Mr. Daniels won’t make a decision for months, several of his loyalists have been quietly testing the waters for him. They include Republican lobbyist Charlie Black; Al Hubbard, an economic policy advisor to President George Bush; and Tom Bell, a board member at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.