Do presidential candidate Mitt Romney and potential rival Rick Perry have a private war brewing?

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry allegedly have a private feud that began in 2002, when Romney headed up the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics.

Apparently Perry, an avid Boy Scout supporter, hoped to have a troop volunteer for the games. Romney, however, refused, citing the youths’ age.

But Perry thought Romney was lying, The Ticket reports, and later wrote that Romney rejected the Scouts because the organization prohibits openly gay leaders:

[Romney] said the Scouts were ineligible for some volunteer roles because they were under 18. But Perry cast the decision as political in his 2008 book about the Boy Scouts, “On My Honor,” suggesting Romney had blacklisted the Scouts because the organization had banned a gay Scoutmaster.

“We know that Romney, as a political candidate in the politically liberal state of Massachusetts, has parted ways with the Scouts on its policies over the involvement of gay individuals in Scout activities,” Perry wrote.

This was before Mitt Romney flip-flopped on gay rights to win over social conservatives.

In addition to the remarks in his book, Perry has also taken aim at the health care plan Romney passed while governor of Massachusetts and picked Rudy Giuliani over Romney during the 2008 Republican primaries, which apparently upset Romney, although Romney still raised cash for Perry’s 2010 reelection, so perhaps he’s over it.

But, if the men do truly loath one another, we may see them start taking public shots at one another: Perry hasn’t made it official, but insiders and maybe even God predict he’ll soon enter the 2012 presidential campaign, and he’s already gaining on Romney’s sizable lead.