On Friday’s program, three religious leaders put President-elect Barack Obama's victory in perspective. Watch the video above.

Tonight’s guests include: The Reverent Al Sharpton; our Consultants Corner.

Danny Hakim interviews the governor in San Juan: “Gov. David A. Paterson said in an interview on Sunday that he would almost certainly seek billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, as well as midyear reductions in school aid, to address New York’s worsening fiscal condition. He also said he expected to urge labor unions to reopen the contracts they have struck on behalf of public employees as a way to avoid or decrease layoffs.”

Elissa Gootman lists the reasons why New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is being considered for a post in the Obama administration.

Sam Roberts reports on why last week’s voter turnout in New York City was only slightly higher than it was four years ago: “Voting was heavier this time than in 2004 in districts that strongly supported Mr. Obama, among them Park Slope and Bedford-Stuyvesant, both in Brooklyn, and the Upper West Side and Harlem. But turnout was depressed in other neighborhoods like Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where Mr. Obama did less well and where Mr. McCain apparently did not generate much enthusiasm either. With polls predicting that Mr. Obama would easily win the state, some McCain supporters may have stayed home.”

David Halbfinger profiles the Wall Street investment banker who unseated the last Republican congressional holdout in the Northeast.

Stephanie Clifford introduces Nate Silver, the 30-year-old statistics wizard behind the website FiveThirtyEight.com.

New York Post

Fred Dicker reports on the two main obstacles standing in the way of the governor’s proposed spending cuts: “Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau), smarting over last week's loss of majority control to the Democrats, may even refuse to take up Paterson's budget-cutting request at the ‘emergency’ session called by the governor for a week from tomorrow, sources said … Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), Paterson's most important legislative ally, was described by sources as unwilling to pass the governor's proposed cuts unless the Senate, which will be under GOP control until the end of the year, agrees to do so as well.”

Dicker also names potential replacements for state GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello: “Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate, is being urged to take over the state GOP after a disastrous election that cost Republicans control of the Senate, insiders told The Post.” And: “The changed dynamic [due to the extension of term-limits for city elected officials] has led some Republicans to look to Red Apple/Gristedes supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis as a possible new state GOP force and potential candidate for governor.”

Sally Goldenberg writes about how a former friend of Mayor Bloomberg is turning foe due to term-limits the law: “Former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari is the lead plaintiff on a suit to be filed today against Bloomberg, who recently won a controversial City Council bid to grant all city officials, including himself, a third four-year term. ‘One person has the awesome power - and only one person - to be able to change the electoral system in our city, a city of over 8 million people. That's wrong. That flies in the face of democracy,’ said Molinari, a Republican who was forced to leave office in 2001 because of term limits.”

Tom Topousis checks up on the LMDC: “Leaders at the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. have resisted Mayor Bloomberg's call to disband by claiming they have much work left to do - yet the agency's board has held only seven public meetings in the last 17 months, records show … Several board members have said privately that they don't know why the LMDC lives on with a full-time staff when virtually all of its federal funding has been allocated and the master plan is in place.”

Topousis also explains the latest way Mayor Bloomberg is encouraging New Yorkers to bike to work: “all new office and apartment buildings [will be required] to include indoor bicycle-parking spaces for residents and workers,” under a new proposal being unveiled today by city planners.

The edit-heads praise Mayor Bloomberg for listing specific ways to cut city spending, while slamming Gov. Paterson for his “pointless dithering” about areas to scale back.

The sweet taste of victory. A Post duo describes the Obamas’ first date since winning the election.

New York Daily News

Kenneth Bazinet previews today’s meeting between the president and president-elect: “It will be all smiles at the White House Monday when Barack Obama pays a visit – but behind the handshakes is friction over his plan to reverse many of President Bush's edicts on controversial matters like abortion and stem cells.”

Erin Durkin follows up on a weekend story by Rich Schapiro: “A state commission is considering adding tolls to the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and 59th Street bridges to ease the MTA's billion-dollar budget hole, sources said. With nearly half a million cars and trucks crossing the four East River bridges every day, the proposed tolls could raise up to $1 billion for the cash-strapped MTA, sources said.”

John Lauinger exclusively reports: “Soil tests of private land at Willets Point revealed widespread contamination of the Queens industrial zone – a finding that could boost Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to redevelop the area, the Daily News has learned.”

Glenn Blain presents a short biography of Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith, as he’s poised to take control of the state Senate.

Elizabeth Benjamin reports on defections from the Gang of 4: “Sen. Carl Kruger and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada Jr. denounced their ex-compatriot, Sen.-elect Hiram Monserrate, as a turncoat and refused to join him in backing current Minority Leader Malcolm Smith despite mounting pressure from fellow Democrats.”

The edit-heads bash the New York City Board of Elections’ performance in last week’s elections, using Sunday’s article by Lesser & Smith as evidence.

Stephanie Gaskell surveys the scene at several New York City churches on the first Sunday since Obama’s historic election.

New York Magazine

John Heileman writes about infighting in the Obama ranks.

As Russell Berman explains, praising Sen. Hillary Clinton has become the norm for McCain-Palin Republicans.

Bob Hardt returns next week.

Until then,

Joan Vollero

To drop us a line, write to political_itch@ny1.com.