New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has seemed to be the frontrunner in the race for New York governor for so long, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the running.

But now a few dynamics are beginning to emerge, a full year before the election, that could have his campaign scrambling - and with good reason.

First of all, his reputation as a crusading prosecutor is taking a big hit after dropping another high-profile Wall Street investigation.

Second, he now has a credible Democratic competitor - the Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

And, for good measure, it now looks like he'll have to face an experienced, deep-pocketed Republican opponent in the 2006 race: Thomas Golisano.

(Golisano may be considered a maverick - he's run before as an independent - but he's certainly no Pierre Rinfret, the disastrous, threatening, joke-of-a-candidate Republicans fielded the last time Mario Cuomo was re-elected and Democrats won the Albany statehouse.)

What seemed like a runaway for Democrats in New York next year could actually turn into an interesting 2006 campaign.

Stay tuned.