Former Mayor Ed Koch joined GOP congressional candidate Bob Turner on the campaign trial on Sept. 1 during an 11th-hour bid for Jewish support in Sheepshead Bay.
Turner, who is hoping to beat Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin during a special election to fill the congressional seat left behind by disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner, took the 86-year-old Koch to the Palm Beach Home for Adults on Bragg Street, where the he sang Turner’s praises to a room full of senior citizens.
The two then went to the Kosher Palace Supermarket on Avenue U for a discussion on US-Israel relations.
Koch, a Democrat and staunch advocate for Israel, threw his political clout behind Turner early in the six-week race, claiming that he was supporting Turner as a means of denouncing President Obama’s beliefs that Israel’s withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders would be a good “starting point” for future Israeli-Palestenian negotiations.
“If David Weprin is elected, you think that sends a message?” Koch asked. “You think Obama is going to say, ‘Oh my god, they repudiated me. They sent David Weprin.’”
Turner isn’t the first Republican Koch has endorsed. The former congressman and three-term Mayor also supported Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg, Gov. Pataki and President George W. Bush.
Besides Turner’s stance on keeping Israel’s borders whole, Koch also supports Turner’s commitment to keep Social Security and Medicare intact, although Weprin has charged that Turner has flip-flopped on his stance on the two entitlements since running against Weiner in 2010. Turner lost that election, but received more than 40 percent of the vote.
Turner says he wants to keep Social Security and Medicare intact for everyone 55-years-old and older, but the programs will have to be revamped for everyone younger.
“If we want it saved, we’re going to have to fix it,” Turner said.
The special election between Turner and Weprin is scheduled for Sept. 13.
