THE DON: I WANT YOU GONE

Joe, Gore pals prod pols: Are you over Hill yet?

OPERATIVES for Vice President Joe Biden and former VP Al Gore have begun contacting top New York Democrats, virtually all of whom have endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, to see if they’re willing to switch allegiances in the race for president, The Post has learned.

The Biden and Gore operatives, in contacts made over the past few days, didn’t make clear whether either man wanted to directly challenge Clinton in the Democratic primaries or was simply moving to position himself to run if Clinton, mired in her emaildeletion scandal, is forced to drop out, said sources familiar with the conversations.

However, one thing that did become clear during the discussions, the sources said, was that there is “a growing shallowness in New York in the support for Hillary.”

“It’s not deep, it’s not enthusiastic, and as a result, I think, depending on what happens, things could change rapidly in terms of support for Hillary,’’ one of the sources said.

Just a few days ago, a key Gore operative surprised a prominent New York City Democrat on his cellphone and asked, “Are you committed to Hillary, and if so, how much?” said a senior Democrat who has regularly been involved in presidential politics.

“The answer was, ‘Yes, I’m committed to Hillary. Why are you asking?’ The answer from the Gore person was, ‘We’re taking a real look at it,’ ’’ the source said.

Meanwhile, a prominent political figure with longstanding ties to Biden and his family said Biden and his people “are definitely looking at running for president. They’re making the calls, talking to people, and doing what you do.”

A second source involved in presidential campaigning said, “Biden sees what everybody else sees. Hillary is in real trouble.’’

Several recent reports have described Biden, who has run for president twice before, and Gore, who was the Democratic Party’s nominee and won the popular vote in 2000, as at least open to entering the race.

But not until now did evidence emerge of direct contacts by Biden and Gore operatives with senior New York Democrats.

Several sources said they saw no willingness on the part of prominent Democrats to drop their support for Clinton, at least not for any of her currently declared rivals, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

But they also said support for Clinton was without any great depth and was, in fact, getting thinner in the face of her mounting problems.

“Things seem to be starting to un ravel more broadly and a lot earlier for Hillary then when she ran for president the last time,” said a prominent Democrat who has known Clinton for several years.

“The thing with Hillary and a lot of Democrats is that people don’t feel that close to her,’’ the source said. “It’s been six years since she left the Senate and became secretary of state, and it’s not as if she’s kept in touch with a lot of us since then.”