ALBANY – New York Republicans yesterday predicted that traditionally Democratic Jewish and suburban voters could defect in droves if Barack Obama defeats Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination, boosting the GOP’s chances of keeping control of the state Senate.
The Republican officials also said they relished the chance of running against Obama on the explosive and unpopular-in-New York issue of granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens which, like Gov. Spitzer, Obama supports.
“I think with Obama as the nominee, the Jewish vote [in New York] would be up for grabs,” said former state GOP executive director Brendan Quinn.
“Obama is much more liberal than Hillary on a wide range of issues including Iraq and the Middle East, and he’ll push the party further to the left than she would, which also helps us in suburban areas on Long Island and right up the Hudson Valley,” he continued.
Quinn noted that Obama backed driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, adding, “We all saw how popular that made Gov. Spitzer.”
The GOP, desperately holding on to a two-vote majority in the state Senate, hopes to protect a marginal seat held by Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-Buffalo), as well as recapture the historically Republican Saratoga-area congressional seat held by freshman Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.
Another prominent New York Republican told The Post, “Obama’s commitment to Israel is open to question, and that would help us with Jews. And his position on social issues seems to many people to be a throwback to the 1960s liberalism, and that helps us with suburbanites.”