The New York State Republican Party boss Stephen Minarik is quoted in today's NY Sun as saying this about potential Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi:

"I think Suozzi has a decent message," Mr. Minarik told The New York Sun."I do think he would be more difficult to defeat than Spitzer. I mean that. He speaks like a Republican many times, certainly in reforming Albany."

Well, he sounds less liberal than Eliot Spitzer, the state's attorney general and Democratic frontrunner for governor. Consider this announcement Suozzi made the other day, in which he's proposing a $1 million fund in the county to be used to prevent abortions.

Sounds like a Republican? Talking about preventing abortions? The divergence between Suozzi and Spitzer is more than just a liberal versus moderate split. It's shaping up as a classic Silk Stocking Liberal Democrat versus a suburban Democrat race. A Howard Dean Democrat versus a Hillary Clinton Democrat. A MoveOn.org Democrat versus a DLC Democrat.

The differences between Suozzi and Spizter could not be more different.

Among everything else about Spitzer, consider this story:

In the opening pages of Byron York's book The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy, he details a June, 2004 fundraiser in Washington, D.C. in which Spitzer appeared with noted liberals including Arianna Huffington and George Soros and, speaking to the crowd, compared President Bush to a less-favorable version of Richard Nixon to hoots and hollers. The event raised money for the ultra-liberal Campaign for America's Future.

Suozzi, on the other hand, is the first Democrat to win election to run government in Nassau County in anyone's memory - it's a county that was once one of the most notable Republican strongholds in the country. He took over a county in fiscal ruin and is generally given good grades for turning it around. And he's willing to spend money to prevent abortions.

The Republicans, on the other hand, look set to endorse William Weld for governor in 2006 - and Weld may in fact be to the left of Suozzi on a number of issues. Weld has already started campaigning as if Spitzer is a lock to be his foe in the general election; running against Suozzi would cause him to change his strategy pretty significantly.

If Suozzi jumps into a primary campaign, at the very least it will force Spitzer to spend a ton of money and publicly spell out his (very liberal) views on a number of issues. If Suozzi doesn't, Weld, overnight, looks like a conservative.