Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave a speech that was a sustained assault on national Republicans and a rare partisan address at the New York Democratic delegation breakfast this morning that simultaneously condemned the GOP presidential ticket and praised President Obama.

With some alterations, the address could have been given at the Democratic National Convention itself.

But instead he gave it inside a tent in the parking lot outside of a Doubletree about 20 minutes from downtown Charlotte full of New York Democrats (his advance team had transformed the tent to include red, white and blue balloons, along with a gussied up dais).

He called for the passage of same-sex marriage rights across the country, a nod to his signature issue since the successful passage of the measure in June 2011.

He repeatedly cited progressive taxation as a means to better society, only a year after he was coming under pressure to keep a surcharge making $250,000 and higher (he later engineered an overhaul of the state’s tax code).

And he sharply criticized Republicans on the national level, a rare foray into often rocky political terrain that he has largely shied away from.

Cuomo gave an at-times sarcastic, often passionate speech that blasted the Republican ticket for its impact on the nation’s middle class.

“The Ryan budget is a paint by numbers picture of the America they want to bring to us. And that picture is a foreign picture to me,” Cuomo said.

The speech was rare because Cuomo often emphasizes his work with state Senate Republicans and touts a spirit of compromise in Albany.

The line is a contrast to his initial reaction to the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman whose controversial one-house budget proposal has Democrats using it as a weapon in House races across the country.

Cuomo had told reporters that the selection will start a needed conversation that “Democrats should welcome.”

But today the governor was all about knocking national Republicans and holding up Obama as someone who has not only helped New York, but thew entire country.

The Republican convention in Tampa he said “was great theater. that’s why there were so many actors there. I’ll tell you, it made my day.”

He added that the election presents “two very stark choices, not just two different men, but two different philosophies.”

Cuomo is only in Charlotte for one day. Aides say he is not attending any fundraisers, but will conduct private meetings with delegates and union officials. Cuomo is expected to sit with the delegation at Time Warner Cable Arena for the president’s re-nomination speech.

The governor has kept a relatively low profile as rumors swirl that he is considering a run for president in 2016.

Cuomo is not speaking at the convention and has not appeared on TV as a major surrogate for the president.

But the governor’s surrogacy seemed to begin publicly today with fiery language for the president.

“We know the president is right,” Cuomo said. “We know he can do these things, because we are doing these things in New York.”

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