Cuomo: Not thinking about the presidency

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said speculation that he could be a presidential candidate in 2016 "is flattering" but said he's not thinking about it, adding: "I want to be the best governor I can be. That's where I am in my heart."

The governor gave his most expansive answer to date on the guesswork already under way about 2016.

When asked by reporters whether the political gossip was distracting and whether he could end it by stating his intentions, Cuomo began his lengthy answer with a figurative nod to the same questions that dogged his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, in 1992. The elder Cuomo declined to run after mulling the decision at length -- sometimes publicly.

"I've seen this movie before," Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference at the Capitol. ". . . So I know this play and I know how it turns out.

"In one regard, the speculation is flattering," he continued. "On the other hand, it can be distracting.

"The politics cannot only distract, but frustrate. . . . Once you start saying, 'Let's start talking political,' my own politics, my own aspirations, it can become not just distracting in that it takes time, but it can become confusing and frustrating."

"So it's very important to me to honor my word to the people of this state and to preserve my relationship of this state and what I am doing is about making this state the best state I can make it and being the best governor I can be, regardless of politics. . . . I'm not going to allow myself to be pushed politically. . . . I am not going to speculate on my own" future.