Opinion

Wendy Long for the GOP

Three Republicans are vying in next Tuesday’s primary for the ungratifying task of taking on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s serial-flip-flopper, in November.

One must be dismissed as a party hack. But the other two are serious people — making this race a tough call.

Nevertheless, The Post today endorses the candidacy of Wendy Long, a lawyer, former congressional aide and longtime conservative activist, for the GOP nod.

She has a long record of involvement on the national level and on national issues.

Which is why she has picked up dozens of endorsements from leading national political figures, including former UN Ambassador John Bolton and ex-presidential candidate Steve Forbes.

This is not to denigrate Rep. Bob Turner, the other worthwhile candidate, who turned political punditry on its head with his upset win in ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s heavily Democratic district.

But he has failed thus far to gain any real traction in the intra-party race.

Still, Republicans could do a lot worse than nominating Turner — specifically, by picking Nassau County George Maragos, a stooge for county GOP boss Joe Mondello and a fellow guaranteed to embarrass himself and his party should he win Tuesday.

Truth be told, the eventual victor will enter the general election generally unknown and substantially under-funded.

Long, as she herself notes, is better positioned to fight “this whole phony war-on-women thing that the Democrats are cooking up.”

And her national connections could be helpful in raising cash.

Gillibrand enters the lists with some $9 million-plus tucked away and with a unified Democratic Party standing firmly behind her — the proceeds of one of the most cynical performances in recent New York political history.

A once-upon-a-time moderate from Albany, she seen her opportunities and she took ’em — renouncing, one by one, every middle-of-the-road position she ever took while in the House.

Now National Journal ranks her as America’s most liberal senator, and she’s become the darling of the hard left.

New Yorkers deserve a senator who actually stands for something — beyond the betterment of her personal circumstances, that is.

While the GOP is offering two good candidates, Wendy Long is the better choice.