"The Andrew Cuomo 2010 campaign will be retaining Phil Singer as a consultant to help with communications," a spokeswoman for the campaign, Jennifer Bayer, told the Observer, in response to an inquiry.

Singer worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, where he distinguished himself throughout primary season by the fierceness of his advocacy on his behalf. He's an avid marathon runner and is usually described by colleagues as an intense guy.

Not that anyone really expected that Cuomo would want to stay where he is, but the move to bring top-tier talent like Singer on board means that he's not running for re-election as attorney general.