“It’s a question about whether the real world has those types of happy endings,” a reflective Thomas Suozzi says in a discussion of his two favorite films, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

These are dark times for Mr. Suozzi. As the curtain falls on his campaign for governor, Mr. Suozzi is coming to grips with the overwhelming likelihood that his quest to defeat Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and put himself on a track to the White House won’t have a Hollywood ending, at least not in 2006.

A politician who professes a faith in the goodness of government and in the wisdom of the electorate, Mr. Suozzi, like Capra’s heroes, is going through a moment of despair, not about himself but about politics. In a recent interview with The New York Sun at the headquarters of Nassau County’s Democratic Party, Mr. Suozzi reflected on a six-month campaign that has left him disillusioned and exasperated.

In the last days of the race before the September 12 primary, Mr. Suozzi is sending a bitter message to an electorate that has thus far tuned out his warnings about rising property taxes and Medicaid spending.

“There are no consequences to Eliot Spitzer’s refusal to debate,” he said. “There are no consequences to Eliot Spitzer’s refusal to give specifics.There are no consequences to the fact that Eliot Spitzer has surrounded himself with the same people who gave us the broken government. … But there will be consequences for the people of New York State.”

All but resigned to defeat, Mr. Suozzi said he never really stood a chance against Mr. Spitzer because the political process in New York is rigged.

He blames the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups: “The same folks that manipulate our government process … are the same people who are the largest contributors to Spitzer’s campaign. The same people who endorse proposals that legislators pass in Albany are the same people who endorse candidates and get them the troops and the political cover in the political campaign.”

He blames his own party and Republicans for focusing on “hot button” issues like the death penalty, abortion, and gay marriage that distract voters from “the issues that are affecting most people in their daily lives.” “Is there an ideological debate going on in our state between Democrats and Republicans or between anybody about the issue of who has got a better way to reduce property taxes?” he said. “I don’t see any debate going on.”

He faults the press: “Why is it that Eliot Spitzer gets a free pass on proposing billions of new spending without proposing how to pay for them,” he said. “There has been no in depth analysis by any media outlet whatsoever. The papers for the most part cover the horse race.”

The press, he said, ought to have put more on pressure on Mr. Spitzer to agree to debate him more than once. Instead, “they have proven their sophistication and said, ‘Well, that’s the front-runner strategy and what would you expect? It would be absurd for him to debate,'” he said with a mock-feminine voice.

And to a lesser degree, he blames himself. He concedes he should have entered the race earlier, should have cast a wider fundraising net, and should have done a better job contrasting himself with Mr. Spitzer. “It’s hard for people to perceive there is a marked difference between a reformer of Wall Street and a reformer of government.”

He also concedes he may have underestimated the power of Mr. Spitzer’s celebrity and overestimated the public’s awareness of his record of restoring financial stability to Nassau County. He repeated his campaign slogan, “I can do it because I’ve done it,” so many times that his campaign aides refer to it with an acronymic moniker, “icdibidi.” In fact, the campaign has registered the Web address icdibidi.com, which directs users to the Suozzi campaign home page.

Asked if he had any advice for the Republican gubernatorial nominee, John Faso, who also faces a tough road ahead, Mr. Suozzi said he had advice only for Mr. Spitzer: “Spend some of your political capital and tell people what it is that you want to do that would be tough to accomplish. So when people vote, the Legislature will be very clear that that’s what they voted for. So they will be afraid that if they don’t give you what you want, they will lose their jobs.”

Until then, Mr. Suozzi insists he’ll play the role of voter advocate, trying to keep the heat on Mr. Spitzer through a series of televised Spitzer-less debates around the state. Although he says he’s not planning to run for any office after finishing his term as county executive, he vows he’s not leaving the political scene.

“I told you I’m not going away. If I lose this race, it will be the point where Uncle Billy lost his money,” he said, referencing Capra’s Christmas classic. “We still have half the movie left.”