We’ve been speculating on whether Rudy Giuliani would consider a run at the top job in New York ever since Eliot Spitzer showed how honorable he was to exploit hookers rather than to cheat on his wife in the normal fashion. On CNN this morning, Rudy conceded that he was giving the idea some serious thought:

David Paterson has approval ratings somewhere south of George W Bush levels, despite the prevalence of Democrats in New York. Giuliani’s personal troubles have already been baked into the cake among Empire State voters, so he won’t have to worry overly much about a Sanford effect in 2010. Democrats would likely run Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Rudy, whose star has not burned quite as brightly as some may have imagined during the financial crisis on Wall Street, but who’s popular and well-connected enough to make a hard run at it. Politico notes that Cuomo has a double-digit lead in early polling over a Giuliani bid, which might make Rudy reconsider.

If Rudy does jump into the race, would Hillary Clinton consider leaving the Obama administration to challenge for the right to oppose him? If Obama flops in his first term, Hillary might be able to make another run at the presidency, and the governorship of New York wouldn’t be a bad perch for that kind of run.