Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy stopped by the “Capital Tonight” studio this afternoon and made an impassioned case for his candidacy for governor, arguing it’s going to take a “real man” to shake up Albany and that he’s just the man for the job.

When I say “impassioned,” I’m really not kidding. Take a look at the clip below for a taste of what’s to come this evening at 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

I had to cut Levy off at the end because we were running out of time, but I did manage to note that the whole “steamroller/blow up the Legislature” thing didn’t work so well for former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Levy countered by noting that Gov. David Paterson’s initial “I was one of you,” collegial approach didn’t work so well, either. He also insisted what Albany needs is “passion,” which was one of Spitzer’s ’06 buzzwords (instead of anger).

“(T)his is all about fiscal acumen – I’m the guy with it,” Levy insisted. “And we need to shake up Albany. It’s not going to be by kissy and hugging everyone. It’s going to be with a real man going up there and taking that place down to its foundations and starting all over again.”