In his last appearance on the grand stage of New York politics, Andrew Cuomo was frozen out by party insiders, boycotted the state Democratic convention, and then pursued a disastrous 2002 gubernatorial primary challenge to Carl McCall that he had to abort before Election Day to avoid a crushing defeat.

Four years later, as state Democrats gather today through Wednesday for their party convention in Buffalo, Cuomo is no longer the outsider. Instead, he is the frontrunner in a spirited five-way party contest for attorney general - flush with enough endorsements from local and county leaders and likely delegate support to potentially keep everyone else from getting enough votes to earn a slot in the party primary.
It's a role-reversal that doesn't sit well with opponents such as lawyer Charlie King, a housing advocate who ran on Cuomo's 2002 ticket for lieutenant governor and has called on him to support a vote-splitting arrangement that would put all the candidates on the primary ballot in September, and allow the party's rank-and-file to choose.

"This is an issue of ballot access," says King, the only African-American in the race. "The people should decide, not party leaders."

The Cuomo camp, however, has not shown much interest so far in helping his opponents - who, in addition to King, include former New York City public advocate and losing mayoral candidate Mark Green, former U.S. Attorney Denise O'Donnell of Buffalo, and Manhattan lawyer Sean Patrick Maloney, a one-time aide in the Clinton White House and the only gay candidate.

Indeed, since his own challenge to McCall, Cuomo seems to have developed a healthy skepticism about primary challenges. "Sometimes primaries are healthy, and sometimes primaries are unhealthy," Cuomo said last week. "It depends on the primary."

With little suspense surrounding the nomination of current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as governor and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to return to the Senate, public sparring and backroom wrangling over ballot position for the attorney general's seat is expected to provide the closest thing to drama at this week's convention. Former Westchester county district attorney Jeanine Pirro is expected to be the Republican nominee.

Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo and federal housing secretary in the Clinton administration, has led his closest rival, Green, in polls by margins of 6 to 14 percentage points. The other candidates have all polled in the single digits, but as many as 40 percent of Democrats are undecided in some polls.

A candidate must earn 25 percent of the delegate votes at the convention to get an automatic place on the September primary ballot. Those who don't can still get on the ballot by gathering 15,000 signatures from registered Democrats across the state, but that can be a costly and formidable task. A strong convention showing can create pressure for rivals to drop out, and a weak one can dry up money.

Rivals concede that Cuomo will get the most votes at the convention, with some suggesting he may top 50 percent. His support, experts say, is primarily a function of his name recognition, remnants of his father's political base, and support from Local 1199, the politically powerful health care workers union.

But Cuomo, who offers no predictions about his showing, says he is also benefiting from attention he paid to New York as federal housing secretary, and four years of hard work winning over party regulars turned off by his challenge to McCall. "A political loss is a humbling experience," he said. "It's one that I actually think I learned from."

Green, insiders say, appears to have the best chance among the other candidates of meeting the 25 percent threshold. He'll be battling Cuomo for delegates, and - like the other candidates - says he'll petition his way onto the ballot if necessary. He argues that Cuomo might make a good "housing czar," but that his own work as public advocate and a city consumer affairs commissioner has better prepared him to be attorney general.

Others in the Democratic field are struggling to emerge as "fresh-face" alternatives to Cuomo and Green. Experts say that O'Donnell - the only woman, only upstater, and only career prosecutor in the race - could be a potent dark horse against two professional politicians if she can raise money.

"We are going to get on the ballot one way or another," said O'Donnell, who has been endorsed by McCall. "It's important that voters have a choice of a real lawyer, and an experienced prosecutor."

Maloney says he thinks it's a mistake to ask for special treatment at the convention and plans to petition his way onto the ballot - but like King and O'Donnell, he argues that Democrats need an alternative.

"What makes you think Andrew and Mark can win?" said Maloney, who has used a promise to sue the Bush administration over its eavesdropping as an example of the aggressive approach he would take as attorney general. "There is room for someone else in this race."