Donating in distant lands

My wife and I donated to Elizabeth Warren's campaign for Senate in Massachusetts. We're big fans of hers.

My day job is being a sort of fundraiser for a large non-profit that's often extremely politically active, so I get the opportunity to talk with people all over the country that actively think about their donations to politicians, why they make them, to whom they give, and what impact they hope to make.

It's only recently, therefore, that I've thought about the ethics of giving to candidates that are running in districts and states that are not my own. Certainly, if politics teaches us anything, it's that the makeup of the Senate (for example, who is the Senator from Nebraska) does impact me, here in New York City. With the filibuster rule making any legislation contingent on a Super Majority, if people like me want to see progressive legislation passed, we should be interested in what's happening all over the country.

Then again, isn't the whole point of our system that each elected official represents the constituency from his or her region? If I object to the principle that money = speech, should I use my own money to influence in other states? Who do not directly represent me? Not that I think my $50 has that much power over anyone's election, but...it's something that I've been thinking over lately.

What do you think?