Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on top of the world

By Richard K. Barry

I'm still betting that Hillary Clinton will make a run for the White House in 2016, but, if she doesn't, Andrew Cuomo certainly might.

A new Sienna College poll has him with impressive approval numbers at the start of his third year in office:

As he starts his third year as Governor, Andrew Cuomo continues to enjoy strong support from voters, with a 71-24 percent favorability rating (down slightly from 72-21 percent last month) and 60-38 percent job performance rating (unchanged), according to a new Siena College Research Institute poll of New York voters released today.

Wow, those are Chris Christie-like numbers.

Of course, Cuomo claims he doesn't like all this talk about a potential run for the presidency, as he recently told Rachel Maddow:

Presidential speculation comes with the job in some ways, but it is not helpful, and it can be hurtful. You start suggesting I want to run for president, Rachel, and then they think, well, maybe he is more interested in his career and his political ambition than the state.

That's what they all say until it's the right time to make their intentions known. Wouldn't it be refreshing if he said that of course he was interested in being president but that convention requires him to hedge his comments for the time being? Wouldn't that be nice?

And, by the way, Cuomo won't run if Clinton does. She'll have New York locked up, money and support, which would make him look pretty silly.