Since Ronald Reagan won his second presidential term in 1984, New York State has been in the democratic blue column, but some Queens Republicans are hopeful that the state could switch back to republican red this year with John McCain at the top of the ticket.
“We are very excited to have McCain at the top because he has natural appeal to Reagan Democrats, Republicans and Independents,” said Vince Tabone, who is the Executive Vice Chair of the Queens County Republican Party and will also serve as the point man of the Queens effort to elect McCain in November.
The Queens County Republican Party, which originally endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, quickly switched their support to McCain after Giuliani bowed out of the Republican primary.
During the February primary, McCain took home 51 percent of the Republican vote statewide compared to only 27 percent for runner-up Mitt Romney. McCain’s impressive showing in NY also resonated in Queens with nearly 55 percent of Republican voters selecting McCain compared to 25 percent for Romney.
After winning decisively in NY, Tabone said Queens volunteers started making phone calls to voters in other states asking them to vote for McCain and help him clinch the Republican nomination - a tactic that would only intensify as the general election approaches.
Meanwhile, Republican strategists believe that the Democrats selecting Barack Obama over New York State Senator Hillary Clinton may also improve McCain’s chances of being competitive in the state. Clinton garnered 57 percent of the statewide vote during the Super Tuesday primary, but she was even stronger in Queens with 60 percent of Queens Democrats voting for Clinton.
In addition, McCain supporters believe that Clinton’s reluctant exit from the extremely close Democratic nominating dance increases the likelihood that her supporters would be disenfranchised by the entire Democratic Party’s process and switch over to McCain.
“You certainly see him [McCain] in a better position than you could have predicted six months ago because the Democratic primary [competition] has been incredibly divisive,” said Matthew Walter, Director of Communications for the NY Republican State Committee. “The way their primary played out certainly provides fertile ground for John McCain in Queens, NY and all over the country.”
Walter said that while his organization has spent the last few months introducing McCain to the state’s voters, they could now focus on Obama and some of his policies that may not resonate with New York voters.
In addition, Tabone attacked Obama’s voting record as a U.S. Senator, saying his liberal policies would not play well in swing states like Ohio and could leave him more vulnerable in New York.
“He has this wide sweeping rhetoric that suggests that he will be a unifier, but his voting record doesn’t say that at all,” said Tabone, who referenced Obama’s voting record as being to the left of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
