NEW YORK - Long ignored in presidential politics, New Yorkers are reveling in what they hope will be the political equivalent of a subway series for the White House: a battle between two Empire State politicians that could bring attention and money the state has not seen in decades.
Written off as a Democratic state, New York has received little attention from presidential candidates in recent general elections. The state has not produced a presidential nominee - or a president - since the 1940s, depriving New York of the political exposure generally given to candidates' home states. New York City has been used as an ATM for candidates seeking campaign cash, while upstaters have long complained that presidential contenders don't even bother to come through asking for votes.
But this year, New Yorkers believe they may be home to not just one, but two nominees, if Senator Hillary Clinton and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani win the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively.
"I think New York becomes a different place politically, resumes a role it had in the past" if Clinton and Giuliani succeed, said Lee Miringoff, director of the nonpartisan Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In recent elections, candidates "were there for money but not for votes," he said.
Already, New York is getting a national look-over, as competing campaigns and media outlets scrub the records Giuliani and Clinton have built in the state. The campaign of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is already trying to link the two candidates by their association with the liberal-leaning state, issuing releases titled "A New York State of Mind" that criticize Clinton and Giuliani's policy proposals.
Both parties have been re-energized in New York, officials say, as local and state politicians gear up in hope of sending a New Yorker to the White House for the first time since Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a fourth term in 1944.
Giuliani's candidacy has helped the state GOP recruit lower-ticket candidates, and may help turn out more Republican voters to elect them next fall, said state party spokesman Matthew Walter. Democrats, too, hope a Clinton candidacy will bring out voters who could tip control of the state Senate to Democrats, who already hold the state Assembly and governorship.
Hofstra University has been selected to hold a presidential debate next fall - the first one hosted by New York since 1960.
And while the state is still a big fund-raising source - New Yorkers have given almost $49 million to presidential candidates so far, including about $18 million to Clinton and $9 million to Giuliani, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics - Empire State voters are expecting more attention to local issues.
"I don't like the idea of New York being used - New York as a backdrop, New York as a symbol," said Eileen Kovchok, a 50-year-old paralegal in Manhattan.
Western New York, meanwhile, is eagerly hoping a Giuliani-Clinton contest would force both candidates to address the economic woes of the region, which is still struggling from the decline of the steel industry.
"There's a feeling that New York State is becoming the centerpiece of the presidential election. It's awesome," said Neal McLoughlin, a 38-year-old teacher in Buffalo. Like many Western New Yorkers, McLoughlin gets frustrated with the attention New York City commands at the expense of the rest of the state and he hopes Buffalo will get its due if Clinton and Giuliani become the nominees.
Most analysts believe Clinton would win against Giuliani in New York, which is heavily Democratic and has not voted Republican for president since Ronald Reagan ran for reelection in 1984. But Giuliani presents enough of a threat - particularly in upstate New York, which has large rural areas and is more conservative - that Clinton could not take the state for granted, said John Zogby, a pollster based in Utica, N.Y.
In a recent Zogby poll, Giuliani was least popular in his home city, where the former mayor's handling of 9/11 and its aftermath - a major theme of his presidential campaign - is now provoking more recriminations than praise. Clinton outpolled Giuliani 55 percent to 27 percent in the Democratic city, Zogby said.
But upstate, which Clinton won handily in her first Senate race in 2000, voters preferred Giuliani 45 percent to 36 percent over Clinton, the Zogby poll suggested.
Upstaters tend to be very suspicious of New York City politicians, believing they will ignore the concerns of the less-populated parts of the state. But voters in upstate and parts of western New York also see Giuliani as the man who slapped New York City around a bit, cleaning it up and lowering the crime rate, analysts said.
Clinton would still beat Giuliani 44 percent to 38 percent statewide, according to the Zogby poll. But "she's going to have to work it," Zogby said.
