Metro

Andy running in April (no fooling)

First, it was February. Then it was March.

And now, it’s “mid-to-late April” for Andrew Cuomo to — at long last — announce his campaign for governor, sources close to the attorney general have told The Post.

“What’s the point of announcing now with [Gov.] Paterson melting down each week?” one longtime Cuomo political operative asked over the weekend.

“There’s not a chance Paterson can deliver an on-time [April 1] budget, and if the war between [Assembly Speaker Sheldon] Silver and the governor keeps going, there won’t be a budget until after the November election. So he waits until mid-to-late April,” the operative continued.

Another Cuomo source said, “Andrew will let the budget deadline pass, let the governor show what he can or can’t do, and that way he can’t be accused of politicizing the budget process.”

Cuomo, with a commanding lead over the unelected governor in opinion polls, recently told friends that “whatever little progress” Paterson made with the voters in recent months is “now in reverse,” and therefore there’s no need to announce his candidacy before April.

In a related development, leaders of the influential Democratic Rural Caucus, anticipating a longer-than-expected delay in Cuomo’s announcement, have discussed putting off statewide endorsements, which had been expected in late April.

DRC leaders, including Sean Hennessey of Jefferson County, want to avoid the awkward situation of interviewing half a dozen would-be attorney general candidates who want to replace Cuomo as attorney general before he has officially declared his candidacy for governor.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com