The ballot truce between Albany Democrats and Republicans that you propose may indeed take care of most of the problems that this year's primary brings to light.

"A surplus is politically more difficult to deal with than a deficit," explained Assemblyman John J. McEneny, an Albany Democrat.

Some Albany Democrats give Mr. Carlebach a chance, which is not usually the case for challengers.

A mistake, said Mr. Cuomo, arguing that Albany Democrats should have resisted the tax cut from the beginning.

Republicans and conservatives say their main hope for a political comeback resides in the possibility of missteps by Mr. Spitzer and Albany Democrats who control the Assembly.

John J. McEneny, an Albany Democrat, said there was a reason that the Legislature was given the right to select a replacement for comptrollers who resign.

"The inauguration is always a good positive, philosophical speech," said Assemblyman John J. McEneny, an Albany Democrat.

"There is absolutely no indication the federal government is going to do that," Senator Neil Breslin, an Albany Democrat, said after voting against the bill.

Many advocates for the poor, as well as many Albany Democrats, say that in its basic principles, the Republican Governor's welfare proposal is diametrically opposed to CAP.

And Representative Samuel S. Stratton, an Albany Democrat who leads the state's delegation, said: "I don't know that we're knocking our brains out on this.