There's a half-kidding joke that's been going around the Capitol: Andrew Mark Cuomo could be governor for life.

That is, of course, more than a little silly. Cuomo having a third term is not close to being an anomaly for a New York governor. Indeed, the governor's father held three terms as did his successor, Republican George Pataki. 

For Cuomo's critics on the left, his campaign war chest makes for a formidable roadblock to unseating him in 2022 as he tries for the fourth term that eluded his father. 

Cuomo this month reported having raised $4.5 million in the last six months and has $11.9 million in cash on hand. That's a lot of money, especially for someone who won't be on the ballot for another two years. 

Money in politics certainly helps: it amplifies a campaign's message directly to voters, be it on social media ads or commercials that air during SportsCenter, allows him to comission focus groups and detailed polling. It shouldn't be discounted. 

But simply raising money against Cuomo might not be enough to be competitive. 

And the idea to the contrary is something that clearly raises the hackles of the governor's team, who point to his accomplishments on policy issues like the minimum wage, immigration, infrastructure and social issues that are popular with Democratic voters. 

In 2018, Cuomo's coalition weathered a progressive challenge from advocate and actress Cynthia Nixon. He was able to control multiple lanes that make up the Democratic Party in New York: Black voters, suburbanites, union households and Western New York. 

This month's Siena College poll shows him at a 65 percent favorable rating with black voters, 58 percent with New York City and 70 percent with self-identified liberal voters (some disquieting numbers for Cuomo, however, show him under 50 percent with union households and in the suburbs). ​

It's not hard to see some parallels with another prominent Democrat, former Vice President Joe Biden. The word "durable" is used a lot to describe the similarly strong support he draws from black Democrats. It's probably little coincidence Cuomo continues to believe publicly that Biden is the best positioned among the 2020 candidates to defeat President Donald Trump this year. 

For Cuomo, though, two years is a long way off -- political lifetimes of several factors, yada yada yada. 

Cuomo's war chest is of course a factor, but the army of voters he's built over the last 10 years shouldn't be discounted, either.