Governor Pataki charmed guests at the 105th annual Legislative Correspondents Association dinner Saturday night in Albany with a genuinely funny skit in which he staged a mock press conference featuring parodies of himself and the reporters who have covered him for the past decade. As the governor responded to mock questions with typical evasion, images of his true thoughts were projected onto a screen. Mr. Pataki’s mix of self-deprecation and pointed mockery of specific reporters drew thunderous applause.

The skit was a showstopper, and the governor knew it. As he descended from the stage and waded into the crowd after an energetic performance, Mr. Pataki, who turns 60 this month, looked at one reporter and said: “I need a drink.” The governor ordinarily buys one table at the event. This year, he bought five. His 60 guests appeared nervous about laughing too hard at jibes aimed at the governor’s wife, Libby, but roared at more ecumenical jokes and, especially during Mr. Pataki’s skit. With the Patakis sitting at the center of the dining hall, the event had the feel of a court uneasy about upsetting the king.

The same thing could be said about behind-the-scenes preparation at the Republican State Committee for next year’s governor’s race. Though Mr. Pataki is widely expected not to seek a fourth term, his reluctance to say so has put party officials in the awkward position of talking up a candidate few people actually expect to run. The party chairman, Stephen Minarik, maintains strict outward loyalty to Mr. Pataki. But Mr. Minarik is a pragmatist, and the courtship of other candidates to run against the presumptive Democratic nominee, the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, is already said to have begun.

Speculation about one candidate in particular intensified this past week. While Mr. Pataki was busy preparing for an upcoming trip to Spain on behalf of the Bush administration, a possible sign of where his ambitions lie, sources close to Republican strategy confirmed that a sort of dream alternative to Mr. Pataki has emerged. The potential candidate is wealthy, an experienced campaigner, comfortable with major press, and capable of securing the requisite number of Democratic votes in a state where Democratic voters far outnumber Republicans.

Mayor Bloomberg’s aides, as you might expect, insist publicly that he has no interest in running for any elected office other than mayor of New York. “Mayor Bloomberg has no interest in running for any other political office than being re-elected as mayor of New York City,” a spokesman for the mayor, Paul Elliott, said. “Unless you hear otherwise from the mayor, then I would take him at his word that he has no plans to seek any other office than re-election.”

Note the phrase “Unless you hear otherwise from the mayor” – a loophole large enough to drive a truck through. So far, Mr. Bloomberg has not pledged publicly that if he is re-elected mayor he would serve all four years.

“I’m not trying to leave wiggle room,” another spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, Edward Skyler, said. “He has no interest in running for governor. He’s told me that publicly and privately. He’s never going to do it.”

Republican sources say officials at the state committee have not yet drawn a black line through Mr. Bloomberg’s name on their short list. They say Mr. Minarik, who has been candid about his interest in self-financers in a race against Mr. Spitzer, would like to court Mr. Bloomberg. Mr. Minarik denied rampant speculation last week that he is actively courting Mr. Bloomberg. “Our discussions with Michael Bloomberg have been about his campaign for mayor,” he said.

Another Republican source called speculation about Mr. Minarik’s alleged courtship of Mr. Bloomberg nonsense. “Bloomberg has made it very clear he wants to be mayor for four more years and then move into philanthropic endeavors,” the source said, referring to a talk Mr. Bloomberg gave at the 92nd Street Y last year, in which he summed up his life’s ambition by saying he hopes to bounce a check to his undertaker. “He’s not going to be governor,” the source said. “In any serious conversation, his name does not come up.”

But that view is not unanimous. Another prominent Republican said the mayor’s name has repeatedly come up. “You have to get through this November before you can think about 2006,” he said. “But Democrats don’t have a problem voting for him, and you have to have that kind of broad appeal if you are going to get elected in New York State. He’s clearly electable, he comes from the city, and he’s a billionaire who has credibility with the media and the party. That’s critical.”

Mr. Minarik’s reluctance to discuss his alleged interest in Mr. Bloomberg might reflect lessons learned from earlier on in his tenure. He got into trouble in January for saying he would ask Mayor Giuliani to run against Senator Clinton next year before even floating the idea past Mr. Giuliani. And late last year, he said he would talk to Thomas Golisano about running for governor if Mr. Pataki decides not to run. Mr. Golisano spent $75 million in a bitter campaign against Mr. Pataki in the 2002 governor’s race.

Mr. Bloomberg’s record as a slick administrator who has demonstrated a reformist knack in his ongoing battle with New York City’s education establishment could indeed make him a potent challenger to Mr. Spitzer. And if the thought of Mr. Bloomberg as governor seems unlikely, well, it wasn’t so long ago that the idea of him as mayor was unlikely, too.

Mr. McGuire is The New York Sun’s Albany correspondent. bmcguire@nysun.com