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Albany, NY - Governor Paterson has begun attacking for mer Gov. Mario Cuomo in private because of an "obsessive fear" of a primary challenge by his son, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

"The governor is badmouthing Mario to a lot of people, claiming that he was responsible for many of the state's problems that he's stuck dealing with now," said a well-placed source.

"He's saying Mario never cut spending the way he has had to, that Mario never had to deal with the [public employee] unions as he has.

"He's got this obsessive fear of Andrew running against him, and he's taking it out on Andrew's father," the source said.

A half-dozen public-opinion polls have shown that an overwhelming number of Democrats want Andrew Cuomo, not Paterson, as their nominee for governor next year.

Two of those polls have even shown that Democrats, along with all New York voters, would prefer to have former Gov. Mario Cuomo -- who served from 1983 to 1994 -- to Paterson.

While the younger Cuomo, former President Bill Clinton's housing secretary, has publicly said he has "no plans" to challenge Paterson, he's known to be gearing up for a race.