Politics ain’t beanbag, as Cynthia Nixon learned right out of the starting gate. On day two of her primary campaign against Gov. Cuomo, the “Sex and the City” actress got a taste of what is coming her way.

Nixon is an “unqualified lesbian,” declared Christine Quinn, a Cuomo associate. The former City Council speaker called herself a “qualified lesbian” in accusing Nixon of being completely unprepared for the office she is seeking.

Welcome to a one-party town, where Democratic shootouts frequently happen in lifeboats.

The bad blood between Quinn and Nixon is personal, stemming from the fact that Nixon endorsed Bill de Blasio over Quinn in the 2013 mayoral primary. But Cuomo must nonetheless be pleased his opponent has been defined in memorable terms that could marginalize her as a fringe candidate.

Using words that Cuomo himself couldn’t use without being called a male bully, Quinn also patted Nixon on the head for being a good liberal activist before adding, “Being an actress and ­celebrity doesn’t make you qualified for public office.”

Cuomo was so busy being governor that even famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot would not be able to find Cuomo’s fingerprints on Quinn’s inflammatory attacks. Yet there is no question that the governor, despite being a heavy favorite in the polls, is concerned about Nixon’s challenge.

For one thing, he needs to win a third term by a huge margin to have any viability as a presidential candidate in 2020. Although Republicans haven’t united behind a single gubernatorial challenger, they are salivating at the possibility that Nixon can damage Cuomo enough to open the way for a GOP victory.

For another, if Nixon gets any traction, it likely will come in New York’s urban areas, which are Cuomo’s base. In his 2014 re-election, Cuomo got 54 percent of the statewide vote in the general election, while winning only 11 of the 57 counties outside New York City against GOP candidate Rob Astorino.

In fact, Cuomo’s 568,000-vote margin in the five boroughs was greater than his state-wide margin of about 532,000. Thus, if Nixon damages Cuomo enough to shrink city turnout in the general election, that could make the difference if the GOP nominee performs well elsewhere.

Against that backdrop, one thing is certain. Nixon will pull and push Cuomo even further to the left, and he’ll oblige. It’s the safest path for him now and for 2020.

For many New Yorkers, a more liberal Andrew Cuomo doesn’t seem possible. But that’s what is coming.

His first term was in the heyday of the Tea Party, and Cuomo created a record that was an eclectic mix of liberal and conservative causes. He was for gay marriage and charter schools, strict gun control and caps on property taxes.

But his second term has been all about shaping a strictly liberal rec­ord for a national campaign where primary voters are expected to be dominated by the Bernie Sanders wing of the party.

Recall that Sanders, a socialist, appeared with Cuomo to announce the governor’s expansion of free-college-tuition plans.

Of course, de Blasio doesn’t think Cuomo is nearly liberal enough, calling him a “moderate.” And Nixon, who is thisclose to de Blasio, has upped the ante by calling Cuomo a “centrist and ­Albany insider” whose administration has been riddled with corruption.

To prove her point, her campaign, she says, will focus on expanding health care, “ending mass incarceration” and fixing subways.

She’s also closely tied to left-wing groups that believe New York state, despite spending more money per public-school student than any other state, doesn’t spend nearly enough.

And Nixon plans to put a big focus on subways, saying that unlike Cuomo, she actually rides the trains and knows how bad they are.

My bet is that Cuomo will respond in two ways. Politically, he’ll try to seem above the fray by having surrogates attack Nixon so that he doesn’t have to do the dirty work. Ever mindful of the need not to scare female Dems and ultra-liberals, Cuomo will use Quinn and other women to do most of his fighting.

Substantively, though, watch for Cuomo to give ground where it matters most — on policy and the budget. Already, he has added $250 million to help fund repairs and upgrades at the city’s Housing Authority, on top of the $300 million he earlier promised.

And disputes over funds for city child-welfare agencies are also likely to be settled because Cuomo won’t take any chances of being called heartless, even when he’s right that the city should be paying more for its own programs.

As for his long-running dispute with de Blasio over subway spending, Nixon’s focus could put Cuomo on the defensive, and make it more likely he’ll compromise with the mayor.

The bottom line is that the bottom line will be expanding. In a race to see who can make the most lavish and expensive promises, Cuomo can’t afford to lose.

That distinction will belong to taxpayers.

Amid all the outrage about the Trump campaign’s use of Facebook data in 2016, keep this report as a reminder of media bias:

“Obama 2012 campaign ‘sucked’ data from Facebook, former official says”

Wherever you look, there are articles about women from his past suing President Trump. Just yesterday, three separate cases made headlines.

The Wall Street Journal carried a front page story on the battle Stormy Daniels and her lawyers have waged to go public with her allegations of an affair with Trump and a $130,000 hush payment made late in the 2016 campaign.

Hours later, a Manhattan judge ruled against Trump’s motion to dismiss or delay a defamation case brought by a former contestant on his reality TV show “The Apprentice” that he could not claim immunity as president.

“No one is above the law,”Justice Jennifer Schecter said in ruling that Summer Zervos, who accuses Trump of groping her in 2007, can pursue her claim that Trump defamed her by saying her claims were “fiction” and that she made them up for “personal gain.”

Finally, Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who allegedly had a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006, said she is suing America Media to win release from a 2016 agreement that required her not to discuss her allegations. The company bought the rights to her story for $150,000, but never published it, and she claims she was misled.

Whatever the legal merits, the timing of the cases suggests there could be political motives–and consequences. Trump has weathered bad news before, but these sordid claims could damage the GOP in the midterms.

Reader Elise Teepe was the first to contact me about Andrew McCabe’s pension. She cites a clearer explanation from Forbes that says the pension of the former acting FBI director, fired Friday, “is delayed a few years and he may have lost some additional perks, but he didn’t lose his [entire] pension.”