INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said he's keeping the door open to a possible 2012 presidential run -- but only by a crack.

The Republican told The Washington Post over the weekend that he has spoken with former president George W. Bush and others in recent months and has agreed to keep an open mind about the idea.

"Just to get them off my back, I agreed to a number of people that I will now stay open to the idea," Daniels told the Post.

But the article's author, Post reporter Dan Balz, said he questions Daniels' simple response.

"I don't think anybody with the experience that he has simply says, 'Yes I keep open the door' just because he's trying to get people off his back," he told 6News. "I think it would suggest he has at least decided he will think about whether it actually makes sense for him to get in the race."

The two-term governor followed up the Post article by telling The Journal-Gazette of Fort Wayne on Monday that his focus is on Indiana for the next 18 months.

"You will not find me doing any of the things that candidates do" this year, he told the Fort Wayne paper. "I have my hands full trying to do justice to this job."

Several Republicans who hope to emerge as the 2012 nominee already have begun establishing their campaigns.

Waiting until the Legislature adjourns in mid-2011 would put Daniels far behind them. He declined an invitation to make the keynote speech last week at a convention of conservative political activists who met in Washington.

State Republican Chairman Murray Clark reiterated that Daniels is focused on the task at hand.

"If it involves campaigning now, or tomorrow, or really in the near future, he's really not focused on that," Clark said. "He's focused on dealing with the hardships that Hoosiers and Hoosier businesses are experiencing in these tough economic times."

Daniels said last summer that he would not subject his family to the "savagery" and scrutiny of a national campaign, even as a group of state Republican insiders launched the Web site Americans For Mitch.

Hoosiers on Monday were mixed on whether Daniels should seek the presidential post.

"I don't agree with the methods he's used in the current position he's holding," said Heather Smith.

"Just everything he's done for our state, I think he's really helped us and made us more advanced," said Stephanie Divine.

"Anytime I could actually support him I really would," said Joshua Scroggham.

Daniels, who was Bush's budget director and worked as Ronald Reagan's political director, won a landslide re-election victory in 2008 even as President Barack Obama carried Indiana in the presidential race.