Toward the end of his interview with Susan Arbetter on The Capitol Pressroom, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made perhaps his most direct comments yet on his vow to veto the new legislative lines drawn by the LATFOR.

Asked specifically if he would veto the lines drawn by the lawmaker-run commission, Cuomo said, “yes.”

“I don’t see how a non-independent process can produce an independent product,” he added. “I therefore would veto a bill that is not an independent product. It would therefore go to the courts. That’s what I’ve said and that’s what I’m sticking by.”

As Jimmy V. points out in a piece for Capital New York, the governor has actually said only one other time, directly, that he doesn’t believe LATFOR can draw independent lines.

Cuomo, in the radio interview this morning, compared the veto promise similar to the one he says he’s keeping on sending out pinkslips to PEF employees in the wake of the contract rejection.

The statement on LATFOR today from Cuomo is significant because it removes some confusion about whether the governor would veto lines he considers “unfair” or simply non-independent.

Cuomo has said he wants an independent commission to draw state and federal legislative boundaries. Still, he has no plans to call the Legislature back to Albany before the end of the year to do so because no agreement is in place for a commission.

Senate Democrats are particularly pushing for an independent redrawing of the lines in 2012. Because of their enrollment advantage in the state, Democrats feel they have a good shot of reclaiming control of the Senate, which is divided 32-30.

Update: Well, we’re back to parsing the governor’s words. Karen Dewitt of New York Public Radio had a separate sit-down interview with Cuomo today. She tweeted: Cuomo on redistricting: “to the extent there is a situation where people want to compromise, fine”

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