(
)
ALBANY — Welcome to the big time, governor.
Gov. Cuomo will host Democratic governors next month and tell them his successes in New York could, and should, be a model for the nation — his first formal move onto the national political scene, The Post has learned.
Cuomo, who has been talked up as a potential presidential candidate in 2016, is slated to deliver the keynote address at the Winter Policy Conference of the Democratic Governors Association at the Sheraton in Manhattan next month.
“He’s going to tell governors across the nation that New York has been leading the way in showing how you can get things done, even when Republicans control one house of the Legislature — just as the GOP controls the House in Washington,’’ a source said.
“The governor will say New York’s been able to chart the way, and he’ll also offer up his own definition or version of [former President Bill] Clinton’s ‘third way’ concept,’’ the source said.
Clinton’s “third way” approach emphasizes private-sector partnerships with government to expand the economy and create well-paying, middle-class jobs.
That’s an approach Cuomo has pushed as he proposed a preliminary plan for rebuilding the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Cuomo, who currently has record-high approval ratings, has refused to discuss the possibility of running for president.
He has begun in recent weeks to describe his success in hammering out a deal on an income-tax reform package that could be a model for Washington.
During a speech at Medgar Evers College earlier this month, he called New York “a shining example of the opposite” of Washington gridlock.
“New York made a beautiful statement. It said, ‘We’re not waiting for Washington, and we’re not waiting for them to finish fighting in the Congress. We’re going to step up, and we’re going to lead,’ ’’ Cuomo said.