Cuomo part 2

I know I have been around Albany a long time when I remember spoofing the man who is now the 51-year-old attorney general and leading contender for governor as "boy Andrew.''

That was back in the early days of the administration of Mario Cuomo in the '80s, when his elder son Andrew (please don't call me Andy), who was born in 1957, was the governor's dollar-a-year chief adviser and political hatchet man.

I recall that we spoofed Andrew in our annual show back then by dressing up his character in baby clothes. Later we had fun changing "Camelot'' to "Cuomolot'' to mark his marriage to Kerry Kennedy, which ended badly a few years ago.

Then today he delivered an aggressive speech at a Democratic gathering in Buffalo that will do nothing to quell the assumption that he is likely to run for and be elected governor next year. He said people have lost confidence in state government, which is both true and a pretty direct shot at Gov. David Paterson.

He has certainly made the most of his time as attorney general, slaying dragons ranging from greedy bankers bilking college students to corrupt state officials (with the widely despised Sen. Pedro Espada also in his sights.)

After a disastrous run for governor in 2002, he has rehabilitated his image enough so that polls show he is by far the most popular politician in the state. The only hurdle seems to be to grease a way out for Paterson, who is vowing to run again next year despite his dismal poll numbers. President Obama seems likely to help facilitate a graceful exit for him, however. Maybe "Ambassador Paterson'' would sound pretty good to the embattled governor.

Yet people are of two minds about another Cuomo governorship. An administration official I had lunch with today "can't wait'' for some order to be restored to what now seems like the chaos of the current regime.

Others worry that his top-down style, much like his Dad's, will handicap his ability to run the state as well as make him a very difficult boss. He still has plenty of enemies who recall his "elbows-out'' style and who refer to him as "Mario without the charm.''

Charming or not, it seems likely that another Cuomo will sit in the governor's chair in 15 months even as he says he hasn't decided whether to run for governor next year. "Boy Andrew'' has matured into a formidable politician.