Really? I thought it was supposed to make them more parochial.
(And I’m mellowing on pork & careerism. I think the Caesar had a point who said you should keep governors in one place so once their greed is satiated they can serve the state.)
Byrd was among the last of an almost extinct breed: the coal country populist Democrat, from the days when populism meant standing up with miners and their families against the excesses of the coal companies. These days, thanks to the collapse of the unions and some unfortunately successful astroturf campaigns, populism means never uttering a critical word about the coal industry, no matter how unsafe or how destructive their practices are.
Throughout his career Byrd was a supporter of the industry, even as he pushed for increased safety regulations for miners. But in his last few years he became increasingly critical of mountaintop removal mining and he wasn’t afraid to point fingers after the Massey mine disaster. He also had the temerity to suggest that our region should consider diversifying its economy in case a day comes when we can’t support ourselves by digging coal out of the ground. It’s sad how much courage it takes to even go that far out on a limb in this environment, and he couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t basically been Senator-For-Life.
Whoever his replacement is, Democrat or not, he might as well be hand-picked by Don Blankenship himself.
Unfortunately, Byrd was a man of little imagination, and his notion of economic diversification entailed turning West Virginia into the Western annex of several Federal agency headquarters.
John Murtha was gaining fast but, alas, was taken too soon to take the King of Pork crown from Byrd.
As for Byrd - my sympathies to his friends and family. He did some bad, he did some good and he hung in there a lot longer than anyone thought he would. RIP, old duffer.
What people don’t seem to realize-Federal Pork comes with strings attached. If Byrd had actually done something to reform the way the coal industry rapes WV, that would have been far better than moving some federal jobs to his state.
Byrd was one of these parasitic politicians who likes to keep his constituents stupid-the better to stay in power.
I won’t miss the guy.
Maybe he was a man of much practicality.
Well, any Democrat has to be careful of falling into the Conservative Recursion Loop, whereby if your politics are pragmatic and focused on the needs of your constituents, you “lack imagination,” and if your politics are idealistic and principled, you are “too much of an ideologue” with no head for “the real world.” And if you try to respond to criticism or new information by changing your stance, you’re just a “flip-flopper,” while your Republican opponents who do the same thing are lauded for their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
And ralph124c won’t miss a dead Democrat? Well, you could knock me over with a feather! Haven’t been so shocked since the Pope’s Catholicism was exposed. 
My own take on Byrd was that he was a politician, with all of the idealism and desire to do good, and also all of the petty self-interest and power-seeking that the occupation generally entails.