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This should be Andrew Cuomos springboard moment: He has tens of millions in the bank and every sign of routing his largely forgotten Republican challenger to win a second term. Throw that together with whats still one of the best-known names in Democratic politics and a record of balanced budgets and wins on gay marriage and gun control, and election night should, for an ambitious big-state governor, be the first step toward a White House run.

Barring true shockers, Cuomo will win his Democratic primary Tuesday, as will his embattled running mate, former Buffalo-area Rep. Kathy Hochul. But the governor is finishing the nomination fight amid a sense in Albany that his political clout is diminished, progressives who believe hell always value his power over their principles, and a re-calibrated rivalry with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Cuomos even fallen behind in usefulness to Hillary Clinton the New Yorker whos likely to clear the field of most other Democrats, particularly those also from the Empire State with the upstart challenge from Zephyr Teachout and her running mate Tim Wu exposing Cuomo as out-of-touch with the political passions of many liberal New Yorkers, and with a larger sense of progressivism thats now defined much more by economic than social issues.

(Also on POLITICO: Clinton robocalls for Cuomo)

Thats the progressivism represented by de Blasio a former Cuomo aide whom the governor started off the year all but trolling, and on whom hes finished the primary season leaning, repeatedly, to backstop him.

Whatever Cuomos speculated-on national plans actually were, they are on ice for the foreseeable future. De Blasio is now the figure whos more valuable to Clinton or any Democrat heading into presidential politics in the coming cycle. There is a freshness to the mayors family, his use of social media and an approach to politics that has made Cuomo look creaky by comparison.

Cuomo cant buy Clinton much of anything with the 2016 electorate. De Blasio, who has created a fusion organization of political support that trumped other organizational muscle in his primary in 2013, can buy a lot, especially for a presidential candidate whose bona fides on income inequality are being scrutinized.

Cuomo stormed into Albany four years ago on a promise of cleaning out corruption, fixing the always-disastrous state budget and restoring New York as the progressive leader of the country. Hes arriving on primary day with a federal investigation of supposed meddling into his anti-corruption Moreland Commission which exacerbated political troubles simmering over a left-wing revolt over spending cuts and tax breaks hed signed off on and a failure to press for stricter campaign finance rules. That only intensified as Cuomo attempted to get Teachout thrown off the ballot in a move that made many New York politicos privately shake their heads.

(Also on POLITICO: NYT to Cuomo: No endorsement)

Even Cuomos 2011 push for legalizing gay marriage, at the time a controversial effort that was seen as a definitive progressive validator for an eventual White House run, has faded from peoples minds.

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Andrew Cuomo's progressive blues