Senator Schumer’s Sunday press conferences will attract less attention in an era of Governor Spitzer and Senator Clinton, a presidential frontrunner. So the astute politician is rolling out a relevance-retention plan.

The senior New York senator who won reelection by a record margin has selected next January to release a new book – the same time Eliot Spitzer would become governor and Senator Clinton would become a presidential contender.

Mr. Schumer isn’t exactly friends with either of his less senior but increasingly newsworthy Democratic colleagues. Mr. Spitzer and Mrs. Clinton won’t want Mr. Schumer anywhere near their spheres of attention as they begin dominating the press coverage Mr. Schumer craves.

Perhaps more than any politician around, Mr. Schumer has mastered the art of attracting press attention. He’s even been known to calculate the time it will take a television producer to reach a live truck to feed back tape. But timing won’t matter if the cameras aren’t there to record Mr. Schumer in the first place. By releasing a new book at the same time his natural spotlight begins to fade, Mr. Schumer increases the chance that the cameras might just be there after all.

Over the next six months, Mr. Schumer will lead Democrats’ efforts to win back the Senate. He’ll then cede his title as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ends. The title is a bit convoluted, but confers a simple benefit: Television news bookings.

By the time Mr. Schumer’s political guidebook is released early next year, he could be a Democratic hero whose wisdom is in high demand. If not, he can present the book as a primer on how to fix what went wrong for Democrats in the mid-term elections.

“The 50% Solution” will unveil “a new platform and vision backed with specific proposals for the Democrats to use to win,” according to the publisher’s press release. The book will include 15 major value goals with specific proposals “aimed at middle class America.” Given that Senate candidates are aiming their messages at middle class America, Mr. Schumer is presumably already sharing the magic that makes him such a successful politician

“Chuck is Chuck – Chuck has always been No. 1 and the book is a continuation of that,” said a prominent New York Democrat who considers Mr. Schumer a friend.

Even before his book comes out – indeed, even before it is written – “The 50% Solution” is ruffling some Democratic feathers. Consider this comment he offered Raymond Hernandez of The New York Times the other day while describing his book: “What Bill Clinton did was modify the Reagan Republicanism and put a Democratic face on it. That’s not going to work. You need a whole new paradigm.”

No wonder Mrs. Clintons’ allies frequently complain Mr. Schumer wants to steal her spotlight. Minimizing the originality of President Clinton’s accomplishments is an effective way for Mr. Schumer to remind both Clintons that he won’t play nice simply because they’re more famous.

“She probably went crazy. He, on the other hand, probably said, ‘Hey truth is truth,'” said a Democratic operative who knows all.

Once the mid-term elections pass this fall – regardless of Democrats’ potential success – Mr. Schumer will cede his place at the head of the national political table to Mrs. Clinton and the other presidential hopefuls. And here in New York, Mr. Schumer’s tremendous popularity won’t be enough to trump a Democrat in the governor’s mansion.

Mr. Schumer sensed this inevitability long ago. There isn’t room in Washington for two dominant New Yorkers, and Mrs. Clinton has a better name. There also isn’t room nationally for native New Yorkers who fancy themselves becoming the first Jewish president.

Mr. Schumer has been uncomfortable with Mr. Spitzer’s rising prominence ever since they were both elected statewide for the first time in 1998. And even while the state’s Democratic establishment rallied around Mr. Spitzer for governor last year, Mr. Schumer was reluctant to give up his flirtation with running for the state’s top job himself. He let go of his gubernatorial ambitions only after he won the prestigious job of running Democratic strategy for re-taking the Senate. The job will give him plenty of attention straight through the fall.

Soon after the ballots are counted this November, the presidential cycle will kick into high gear next year. Plenty of senators will have starring roles as primary candidates, but Mr. Schumer isn’t one of them. The book could help him become an esteemed Democratic wise-man who preaches from above the fray – while the actual candidates muddy each-other and ultimately themselves.

Mr. Schumer will see his Sunday morning television invites dwindle unless he’s perceived as a shrewd tactician whose absence from the daily political battle is replaced by detached expertise. Hence, the book.

This cynical explanation is only part of the equation. Mr. Schumer – like fellow New Yorkers Mayor Giuliani and Mayor Bloomberg, and also President Clinton – sees the old Democratic policies and the old Republican policies appealing to fewer voters in the emerging global economy. He clearly has substantial ideas to illuminate the debate.

Mr. Schumer’s Brooklyn accent lends to his reputation as a political street fighter. People forget he graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Everyone knows that Mr. Schumer likes being on television. But after watching him for a while, you have the sense Mr. Schumer also appreciates the intellectual satisfaction of honing the issues and the positions that do more than get him on television – they’re what connect him with the public.

Mr. Goldin’s column appears regularly.