Four years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was jockeying for a good speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia against Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

This year, even though de Blasio was one of the dozen or so Democrats who briefly sought the presidential nomination, Cuomo won't be fighting the mayor for speaking time. 

Cuomo will deliver a speech in the coveted 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. slot during the first night of the DNC, sharing the Monday spotlight with party luminaries who had been in the vice presidential mix like Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gretchen Whitmer as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jim Clyburn. 

The governor, of course, is getting top billing due to his performance in daily briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, which became alternative viewing for critics of President Trump's handling of the crisis. 

Cuomo went from middling approval ratings to one of the more popular elected officials in the country. 

Here are three things to watch for at tonight's DNC:

1. Do these speeches still matter?

The DNC is going to look very different this year and we're not quite sure what the effect will be for viewers at home who are otherwise preoccupied with a global pandemic. 

The convention is being held in a virtual setting. No screaming crowds of delegates with their state's name written vertically on a sign, no funny costumes or hats. 

The impact of previous convention speeches has been clear: Mario Cuomo and Barack Obama shot to national stardom in 1984 and 2004; Bill Clinton put the crowd to sleep in 1988. 

How Cuomo's speech and the other addresses will be packaged wil be key to the overall presentation: It presumably can't be a speech that relies on applause lines or a crowd to feed off. Will it still feel like an event or another Zoom happy hour?

2. The content is key. 

Cuomo has a very specific beef right now with the federal government. He, and other state governors, have seen their state government's finances badly damaged by the pandemic and the subsequent economic shutdown. For now, no direct aid to states is coming, and it appears providing financial support to state and local governments is a key sticking point in the talks in Congress. 

Cuomo is likely to make this a major theme of his address as New York is still seeking billions of dollars in aid to recover from the pandemic. 

It's also likely how he'll try to show New York's efforts to control the spread of the virus as a contrast to the national pandemic response. It was bad in New York in March and April, and the state may have been too slow to act, thousands of people have died in nuring homes and a clear reason why remains obsfucated by politics. 

But the state's infection rate for more than a week now remains below 1% out of tens of thousands of tests -- something Cuomo can point to when he addresses a national audience. 

3. What does the future hold?

The convention this week, thank goodness gracious, will put to rest any theories Cuomo will try to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket. As we've noted before, Cuomo has no made no public or stated interest in running for president and hasn't taken steps to do so. 

He's an older white man in a party that, its presumptive nominee notwithstanding, is demographically moving toward people of color and women when looking for candidates. 

And yet is hard to shake any notion Cuomo won't play a role in a Biden administration as a top-ranking cabinet official like Homeland Security secretary. Cuomo has dismissed any suggestion that he'd want to no longer be governor of New York, a position where he has amassed a great deal of power, to join another presidential cabinet ("Been there, done that," he's said).

Mario Cuomo's speeches like the one at the '84 convention had a stirring quality to them, written and given by a man who read philosophy. 

Andrew Cuomo's speeches are almost purposefully workaday products that emphasize information. Will Cuomo be able to meld both styles tonight?