We all bitched and moaned when Hillary, who did not live and had never lived in New York. She was from Arkansas.. Some called her a carpetbagger...and worse!
As far as I know, Dr. Keyes does not live, and never lived in Illinois. So what gives....I guess residency rules are out the window? and anybody can run anywhere they are needed. Krap...as much as I admire and respect Dr. Keyes, I don't think I like him running in Illinois any more than I liked Hillary running in New York.
Maybe I am wrong about this...as I frequently am about other things....but just damn!
Somebody please explain how Alan Keyes gets to run for the Senate from Illinois when he lives somewhere around D.C.????
The IL GOP asked him.
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.
Carpetbagging is a tradition revived by the Kennedys. - Tom
Soon after President Kennedy's death, Robert Kennedy resigned as Attorney General and, in 1964, ran successfully for the United States Senate from New York. His opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Kenneth Keating, labeled Kennedy a "carpetbagger" during the closely contested campaign.