Political connections help, but usually only after you've secured an interview. As others have pointed out, it's very hard to get past the initial screen at several schools. The raw numbers really are used to filter out many otherwise great candidates. It may not seem fair, but it's reality.
Personally, I think you have a decent chance at all 4 state schools in NY (especially SUNY SB which has unusually strong research for a state school) and even SUNY Syracuse (which gives zero preference to in-state applicants). After that, apply to the usual spread of schools where your MCAT average is close to the school's mean. Also apply to Albany, Vermont, and Rosalind Franklin in Chicago. Private schools (barring the usual elite squad) often are a little more forgiving with regard to the MCAT. This was my own experience. It may be that their agenda is a little different from the generic state schools which is heavily-subsidized and usually mandated to pump out a number of docs who will hopefully serve the state. Thus, state schools can be a little less forgiving and they want the assurance that you'll not fail out if they admit you. This reasoning is not personal opinion but comes right from the Dean of an anonymous allopathic medical school who is now the CEO.
If you are set on an allopathic medical school, I know several PhD-to-MD applicants who have been accepted to GW with numbers like yours, and they all did very well. In fact, one of them was the attending on a case I scrubbed in on the other day. He entered GW in his late 40's. BTW, I was a 'premed postdoc'. I'm a MSIII now. Publications matter more than a Ph.D. or postdoc in my humble opinion; PhD's entering medical school are not as rare as everyone thinks and you really must shine as brightly as your equally-dedicated and talented contemporaries who are applying right out of undergrad.
Don't let others discourage you - just be sensible about where you apply - and try to keep your application package as consistent with your past endeavors as possible. While a change of heart is often closer to the truth for many PhD-to-MD applicants, you must make this transition look like a logical step for you. Good luck.
to you. 
