One Democratic candidate for governor has adopted a fund-raising strategy ripped from the playbook of Conan the Barbarian, the vengeful movie hero who vowed to crush his enemies and hear the lamentations of their women.

Certain of victory in November, Eliot Spitzer’s campaign is directing fundraisers to tell potential donors that the front-runner candidate needs tens of millions of dollars to guarantee that his opponents are routed. Donors are being told that by running up the score, New York’s attorney general can begin his governorship with a mandate.

The message to donors appears on the campaign’s Web site, which includes a page with detailed instructions on throwing a “house party” to raise money for Mr. Spitzer. Fundraising hosts are encouraged to use a sample invitation letter that states: “But we need to do much more than elect Eliot Spitzer governor. We need to give him a mandate. We have to demonstrate that the vast majority of New Yorkers want to empower Eliot to revive our state – and a victory of this magnitude will cost tens of millions of dollars.”

The letter also suggests that Mr. Spitzer may need to eclipse Governor Pataki’s spending total in the 2002 gubernatorial race to sufficiently trounce his opponents. Mr. Pataki’s campaign spent about $45 million.

The letter points to Mr. Spitzer’s goal of creating an air of inevitability without hurting his grassroots fund-raising efforts. The message to potential donors is a balancing act between cool confidence and concern. While narrow victories haven’t stopped politicians from declaring a governing mandate, Mr. Spitzer is seeking to convince donors that their money will make it easier for him to govern in 2007.

Mr. Spitzer has raised more money than any candidate in the race, according to mid-January filings. At the time, Mr. Spitzer had $19 million in the bank and his Democratic challenger, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, had accumulated $5 million. William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, led the Republican field with $2 million, about twice as much as the total raised by John Faso, a former assemblyman from upstate New York.

The attorney general’s lead in opinion polls hasn’t changed significantly in recent months, despite the entrance into the race of Mr. Suozzi, a popular suburban politician who has attacked Mr. Spitzer relentlessly for not doing more to fight Medicaid fraud. A recent poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found that Mr. Spitzer leads Mr. Suozzi by 69% to 14% and is ahead of Messrs. Weld and Faso by 48 percentage points.

A veteran Democratic political consultant who worked for Mr. Spitzer in 1998, Hank Sheinkopf, said Mr. Spitzer’s strategy represents an honest acknowledgment that he is heavily favored to win. Mr. Sheinkopf disagreed with the notion that New Yorkers would find Mr. Spitzer’s message – that his victory is all but assured – on the cocky side.

“It doesn’t come off as arrogant,” he said. “Suozzi isn’t gaining traction, and the Republicans are in the toilet.”

While stressing the importance of a mandate, the sample letter published on Mr. Spitzer’s campaign Web site doesn’t specify how Mr. Spitzer would use it.

It says that while serving as attorney general Mr. Spitzer has “transformed the insurance industry” and “reshaped” financial markets, and – in an apparent response to Mr. Suozzi’s criticisms – claims he increased Medicaid fraud recoveries by 700% since taking office.

“Imagine what he can do as governor,” it says.