Perhaps the most important thing about Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy for AG Andrew Cuomo: He can’t be compared in any way, shape or form to the man former Gov. Eliot Spitzer tapped to be his running mate.

“I think the one thing he was looking for most was someone who would be a strong comparison to David Paterson,” said Assemblyman Joe Morelle, a longtime Cuomo ally and one of the few elected officials to endorse him for governor in 2002.

“People won’t be able to say he has no administrative experience. He has plenty of it. Both as a former police chief and as mayor of the second largest city in upstate.”

When Spitzer tapped Paterson, then the Senate minority leader, in 2006, he did so for ticket-balancing purposes – much like Cuomo is doing now – selecting someone who he thought could help shore up his support with African American voters.

His pick angered the Harlem Gang of Four (including Paterson’s father, Basil), who had supported former Hillary Clinton aide Leecia Eve as their preferred LG.

Paterson has since admitted he was barely vetted – if at all – by the Spitzer administration before his selection.

Though Spitzer has steadfastly insisted he made the right choice at the time, the events of the past year have proved he would have saved New Yorkers a lot of grief had he done a much better job in reviewing the background of his running mate.

According to Morelle, who is also the Monroe County Democratic chairman and has known Duffy for many years, Cuomo has made a safe choice. The mayor is clean as a whistle.

And, he and the AG are ideologically aligned, as well, which makes Duffy a perfect messenger for Cuomo’s agenda.

“Bob is a fiscal conservative; he’s demonstrated that, gotten into a few dustups with the municipal unions – police and firefighters – because he’s been tough on issues, fiscal issues,” Morelle said.

“That’s consistent with what Andrew had talked about,” the chairman continued. “I think they’re sort of a perfect match.”

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