In short, the person you send to Washington has two primary responsibilities:
1. To be representative if the views of the people who sent him
2. To look after the interest of the state when those interest are in competition with the interest of other states.
Now, as it has fallen out over the years, thanks primarily to the constitutionally assigned duties of the Senate, the latter of those two purposes has fallen more heavily on the House, and the former more heavily on the Senate.
Now, as a matter of practical application, while your Senator is by no means irrelevant in terms of local issues, that's usually worked out in one fashion - bringing home the pork.
So, the questions you have to ask yourself are these:
A. "Is the Candidate who has lived here but agrees with me on nothing more likely to represent my views in the Senate than the one who agrees with me on everything but doesn't live here?"
B. "Is my hunger for pork more important than voting for a man who most closely reflects my views on the great issues of the day?"
No one can answer those questions for you.
B. "Is my hunger for pork more important than voting for a man who most closely reflects my views on the great issues of the day?"
Very well stated.
If Keyes is the candidate, he has my vote.