The death of Robert Byrd wonâ??t immediately affect the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, but his home stateâ??s political landscape has changed in the more than fifty years Byrd represented West Virginia in Washington, D.C. University of Wisconsin political scientist Charles Franklin says the 92 year-old Byrd entered national politics from the conservative southern wing of the Democratic party â?? including an association and a vote he later came to regret.
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