Metro

Why Andy may secretly root for GOP in 2012

Will Gov. Cuomo be backing the Republican candidate for president next year?

Certainly not openly. But privately, that could be another matter.

Two nationally prominent Republicans, in an assessment that’s begun being whispered in some Democratic circles, contend it’s in Cuomo’s political interest for President Obama to be defeated next year.

“If I’m Gov. Cuomo, I want to see Obama defeated rather than re-elected in 2012,” said GOP pollster/strategist John McLaughlin, whose New York-based company boasts a top-flight client list that includes House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

“The question is, ‘Would Cuomo rather run in 2016 against a first-term Republican or in the aftermath of a second term of Obama, the most left-wing president we may have ever seen, with economic policies that harm the private sector with massive tax increases and a homeland-security path that includes hostility to Israel?’ ”

McLaughlin continued, “Cuomo has a different, far more moderate, model where he has cut spending, didn’t raise taxes, capped property taxes and hasn’t engaged in the class-warfare, anti-Wall Street rhetoric that the president has used.

“A second term for Obama with the same policies he has now would probably be a political catastrophe for the nation and the Democrats. If there’s four more years of Obama, you don’t want to be Cuomo running for president as the leader of the Democratic Party.”

Cuomo may already be holding back full-fledged support for Obama. When pressed on where he stood on the president’s demand for higher taxes on the wealthy last week, the governor responded with a tepid, “I tend to agree with the president’s position.”

Former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a lobbyist with strong ties to the Washington political establishment, said, “If President Obama loses next year, Cuomo immediately comes to the fore.

“Cuomo will be the power in the Democratic Party because he has done it in a great state, he stabilized the economic situation, took on some of the Democratic sacred cows and got results,” said the Republican D’Amato, who backed Cuomo last year over hapless Republican Carl Paladino.

“Generally, after a president serves two terms, the public wants a change. There was an exception with Ronald Reagan, who handed off the job to his vice president. But I think there will be an incredible weariness with Obama and the Democrats if he serves another four-year term.”

Some key New York Democrats have privately reached the same conclusion.

“If the governor wants to run for president in 2016, and I think he does, it would be much better for him to have a Republican in the White House for the next four years,” said a prominent New York Democrat.

McLaughlin, meanwhile, urged political tea-leaf readers to keep their eyes on what, if anything, Cuomo does for Obama during next year’s presidential campaign.

“The really interesting question is this: Between now and the election next year, how much will Cuomo do to help Obama get re-elected?” McLaughlin said.

“While I’m sure Obama doesn’t think he needs Cuomo to win New York, Cuomo, with his name and popularity and media presence, could be a significant force for the Democrats on issues beyond New York’s borders. He has the potential of being a strong spokesperson for his party.

“I’ll be watching to see if Cuomo expends some of his political capital on behalf of getting Obama re-elected.”

fredric.dicker@nypost.com