Ex-Mayor Ed Koch, a lifelong Democrat, wants voters in next week�s race for Anthony Weiner�s House seat to choose a Republican for the first time in 88 years — and send President Obama a stern message about his hostile views toward Israel.

Actually, with the economy stuck in neutral and job growth nonexistent, even folks who couldn�t care less about the Jewish state see the wisdom of signaling their displeasure. Fact is, you don�t have to be Jewish to want to back Turner in Tuesday�s special election. Or even Republican.

Just thoroughly disgusted.

We sure are — and that�s one reason why The Post today strongly endorses Bob Turner in next Tuesday�s special election in New York�s 9th Congressional District.

Let�s face it: Turner�s rival, Assemblyman David Weprin, is a career Democratic Party hack. He was handpicked by party bosses (there was no primary) mostly because he comes from a powerful political family.

Indeed, Weprin doesn�t even live in the 9th District — how arrogant is that? — and he�s not bashful about his willingness to toe the Obama line.

He�s calling for higher taxes and more spending. (And anything else the Democratic establishment tells him to support.)

No question his election would embolden Obama & Co. to keep heading in the same direction — that is, nowhere.

Turner understands the frustration among his neighbors — four out of five of whom say the country�s headed in the wrong direction, including 73 percent of Democrats, a recent Siena poll shows.

It�s why Turner, a longtime district resident who�s fairly new to politics, decided to run for Congress in the first place.

And why he�s made the race a referendum on Obama.

Even the president�s backers realize that this Brooklyn/Queens face-off transcends local issues and is more about him.

Which is why they�re working overtime to help Weprin. And why Weprin is careful not to mention Obama�s name.

No doubt, a Turner win — the first Republican victory for the seat since 1923 — would register in the White House.

Turner, a businessman who surely understands job creation better than career pols do, wants to trim spending and taxes to �allow our businesses to grow.� He abhors Obama�s pressure on Israel (�America�s only dependable democratic ally in the Middle Eeast�) to accept pre-�67 borders.

No wonder a McLaughlin poll last week had him and Weprin in a dead heat, with 42 percent of the vote each.

Ninth District voters who want to change the nation�s course can make a difference next week — by voting for Bob Turner.

(Source: NY Post)