Cuomo Again Rules Out Presidential Bid : Politics: He says he wants to remain governor of New York, and only told supporters ‘out of respect’ that he would think about the race.

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo had breakfast at a posh Park Avenue hotel with a group of influential and wealthy political supporters Friday and, by the time the toast was barely cold, wire services carried stories that he was thinking about running for President.

But, by lunchtime, Cuomo poured cold water on the reports, repeating that he has no plan or any plan to make plans to seek the Democratic nomination.

Cuomo said that, out of respect for contributors in the room, he had said he would think about the race. But, later, Cuomo told reporters that he has no surrogates looking at filing deadlines for primaries and no domestic or foreign policy teams preparing campaign issues.

Once again, he stressed that it is impossible to run in the primaries and remain governor of a financially troubled state--and he wants to remain governor.

Nevertheless, he refused to make a final Shermanesque statement.

“Nothing has happened this morning that changes anything,” Cuomo said.

He said that, when supporters asked him about running for President, “out of respect” he did not say he was not going to think about it. But he said: “I have considered it for a long time and my answer has always been the same. There was nothing new. There was no coy, clever, indirect leak.”

Cuomo said that both the political primary calendar and the serious financial problems facing New York state strongly militate against his seeking the White House.

“We are about to announce more bad news about the (state) budget and the (New York) city budget,” Cuomo said. “This is one of the toughest times we have ever seen. How do you run in Iowa and New Hampshire? I went through all of that in 1987, exactly the same question, exactly the same answer. I simply couldn’t do it. I am committed to being governor.”

The governor said it was “absolutely not true” that members of his staff were canvassing for potential support and looking at filing deadlines for next year’s primaries.

Cuomo was asked if he was going to think about the presidency some more.

“I am going to try to keep it out of my mind,” he bantered. “A supporter who gives me a lot of money, he said, ‘Will you think about it?’ What am I going to say, no?”

Some political consultants say that, because of his national recognition and ample fund-raising base, New York’s governor enjoys a longer time than most other potential Democratic contenders to make up his mind. The presidential speculation gives Cuomo more chances to speak out on national issues.