NEW YORK, NY September 04, 2008 —Local New York delegates in St. Paul for the Republican convention say they're going to bring the energy home from the Twin Cities to their very Democratic state, and persuade it to vote for Sen. John McCain. WNYC's Fred Mogul has more.

They believe McCain has broad, non-partisan appeal to Democrats - even after his surrogates and VP pick portrayed the party as one of high taxes, big government and weak defense. Philip Byler, of Huntington, admits his town has grown more Democratic but he says there's also a deep conservative streak.

BYLER: There is no reason why a McCain-Palin ticket would not take the majority of the votes, given who lives on Long Island.

REPORTER: State campaign chairman Edward Cox says New York Republicans, quote, always get by with relatively little funding because the national party spends more in closely contested states. Still, Cox promised a New York visit from McCain sometime this fall. In St. Paul, for WNYC I'm Fred Mogul.