Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia dead at 92
Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1959, worked on a number of key committees, helped win ratification of Panama Canal Treaty and was well known for steering federal dollars to his home state.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Robert C. Byrd, the longest serving member of the U.S. Senate, a fiery orator and hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to his beloved West Virginia, died Monday. He was 92.
A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs, said that Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He had been in the hospital since late last week.
At first Byrd was believed to be suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration, but other medical conditions developed. He had been in frail health for several years.
posted by BP News Bureau | 7:30 AM
1 Comments:
(Hot Air) - [Gov.] Manchin, a Democrat, reportedly wanted a shot at the seat himself when Byrd left the Senate. That would be a difficult maneuver now, at least in terms of the interim appointment. Had Byrd died a week later, Manchin could have appointed himself to what would have been a two-year term and hoped to ride Barack Obama’s coattails, such as they will be, into a full term in 2012. Now the election will have to be held this year in a midterm cycle poisonous to Democrats, especially in coal country while the Senate attempts to revive cap-and-trade.
As for Byrd, his death does mark the end of an era and removes a continual flashpoint for controversy. Byrd’s history as a KKK recruiter and the man who filibustered the Civil Rights Act was routinely cited by Republicans and excused by Democrats. Ironically, he was the last member of the upper chamber from those days. Byrd also attracted controversy as one of the biggest practitioners of pork-barrel politics in Congress, which endeared him to many West Virginia voters but made him the scourge of clean-government and fiscal-responsibility activists. The media treated him with a bit of amnesia regarding the earlier portion of his career, focusing mainly on his self-described expertise on the Constitution and his work as a historian of the Senate. Only in this past year did media reports focus on his declining health and ability to serve, as Democrats finally removed Byrd as chair of Appropriations when it became clear that he wasn’t able to keep up with the task.
Our prayers are with the Byrd family and with the people of West Virginia.
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