Haley Barbour To GOP Heads: Hands Off Primaries

In an appearance on CBS's "Face The Nation" over the weekend, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said that leaders in his party should refrain from wading into primary election races.

The suggestion from Barbour, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, came in response to a question from host Bob Schieffer on the looming defeat of Sen. Lisa Murkowski to Tea Party-backed challenger Joe Miller in Alaska's GOP Senate primary.

"When I was chairman of the RNC," explained the Republican gubernatorial campaign chief, "we never took sides in primaries, we did not endorse incumbents over challengers. Same way as I'm chairman of the Republican Governors Association today."

The Mississippi Governor added, "The Republicans of Alaska have the right and should pick their nominee. They don't need somebody in Mississippi to tell them who ought to be the Senator of Alaska."

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