The Post today endorses Republican Wendy Long for the US Senate.
Simply put, New York deserves a more substantive senator than Kirsten Gillibrand — a woman who turned her back on her comparatively moderate House record to become a full-fledged knee-jerk left-liberal.
And who, by the way, spends all her time in Chuck Schumer’s shadow.
But the political gods have been kind to her, and given the sorry state of the New York Republican Party, there really weren’t many top-flight candidates willing to give her a run for her money.
Too bad. She needed a real challenge.
Alas, Long has been nearly invisible since her resounding win in the GOP primary, which she got thanks to the backing of the state Conservative Party.
Frankly, we doubt that Rep. Bob Turner, whom she defeated in that race, would’ve been such a shrinking violet.
All this is sad, since Wendy Long is a serious person, with strong credentials, and she clearly understands the issues. But she needed to make her case to the voters — and there’s scant evidence she ever tried.
Certainly, she was never able to raise much money.
And the current electoral arithmetic suggests that Gillibrand, who leads in the most recent polls by 44 points, would’ve had a cakewalk no matter whom she faced.
But we support Long, because she’s far superior on the issues, and because there should be some ideological diversity in New York’s political leadership, where Republicans — and especially conservative Republicans — are rare birds.
Though we’d hoped she’d have been more competitive, we urge a vote for Wendy Long for US Senate.