Some thoughts on Byrd vs. Raese

Byrd brings home the bacon. Raese is against big government. Byrd is for copyright and patent law reform. Raese defends the corporation, especially small business. He is not likely to agree with me on patent law reform. I'm not sure he has taken a stand on the issue, however. He is likely to agree with me on other issues like staying the course in Iraq and supporting the President. I certainly like Raese's stand on how to bring business to WV, though I'm not sure how much he can do about that as a Senator. That seems like something that needs doing in the state legislature. The one thing he can do is not bring home the bacon. I don't want any more government pork. It is wasteful. It can harbor an feeling of entitlement that I don't like. The saying "good enough for government work" comes to mind. I don't mind bringing government jobs for necessary programs to West Virginia. I mind creating programs only for the purpose of creating jobs. The government industry isn't an expansion industry. There isn't a high standard of accountability in most cases. I favor Raese on the grounds that he won't bring needless pork to West Virginia. I also get a sense of elitism from Byrd. I feel like he has abused the lack of a term limit in the Senate. I also feel like he rubs it in. Raese is still an unkown to me, really. Would he use the position of power in a corrupt way. With so much corruption and personal gain going on in the legislature this is a large concern for me. There really has never been a candidate of the common man. Everyone who runs for federal office seems to be at least a multi-millionaire anymore. I guess some of the things we look for in a politician, like a proven track record and a high education level make it more likely that the candidate has been successful in his pursuits, however, I think the disparity between the working class and the political candidates is there. Have we witnessed the return of a caste system in our country in the last 100 years or so? Was it always there? I think you could make the argument.