Cuomo plays coy on Hillary succession

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday ended a call with reporters about curbs on executive salary and bonus payments at insurer American International Group and other Wall Street firms with a parting shot at a tabloid reporter who asked if he planned to take up similar issues as a U.S. Senator.

“No maybe as a Daily News journalist…,” Cuomo quipped.

Joking aside, in a Nov. 18 poll of New Yorker opinion, Cuomo was favored as a replacement for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is expected to become Secretary of State once president-elect Barack Obama takes office. Voters preferred Cuomo 43 percent, more than any other candidate.

The New York survey of 613 voters had a 4 percent margin rate, and was conducted by Poughkeepsie-based Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.