An increasingly nervous Gov. Cuomo is considering his options to prevent the �very real�� possibility that disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer will win the Sept. 10 Democratic primary for city comptroller � and turn into Cuomo�s worst political nightmare, NY Post’s Fred Dicker reports.

Governor Cuomo is considering a last-minute endorsement of Stringer or other actions to turn the tide, Democratic insiders say. The insiders said Cuomo has been closely following private polling data on the Spitzer-Stringer contest and will likely make up his mind about intervening no later than the Labor Day weekend.

�It�s tough to overstate how dangerous for Andrew a Spitzer victory will be, and his victory is a very real possibility,�� a longtime Democratic operative told the Post. �If Spitzer is city comptroller, he�ll be attacking Wall Street, which Cuomo needs for the jobs and revenues it produces for the state; he�ll be advocating an across-the-board left-wing agenda, which makes Cuomo nervous; and he�ll never acknowledge Cuomo as the leader of the Democratic Party, which could be worst of all if the governor runs for president,�� the operative continued.

That possibility has a prominent Republican strategist predicting that a victorious Spitzer might even seek to challenge Cuomo in the Democratic primary next year in an effort to regain his old seat as governor.

�I think a Spitzer victory over Stringer will drive the governor nuts,�� John McLaughlin, a New York-based national GOP strategist and pollster who is working for Republican mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis, told the Post. �I believe there�s no question that Spitzer is looking to become governor again.”

�He�s looking for redemption � it�s the indirect message in his TV ads, that he wants to protect the �little guy.� He�s running for higher office than comptroller.

�If Spitzer is comptroller and Cuomo looks weak at this time next year, it may well be that he�ll be more of a threat to Cuomo than any of our Republican candidates could be,�� McLaughlin added.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)