W. Va. weighs record term for Byrd (AP)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Leaning on two canes, Sen. Robert C. Byrd ( news , bio , voting record ) hardly looks like a billion-dollar industry — or "Big Daddy," as the 88-year-old Democrat calls himself. No matter: Voters once again are looking beyond Byrd's age to his political guile — and the truckloads of federal dollars he's steered to West Virginia — as they consider whether to give him a record ninth term in the Senate. "It's not that we deserve more money than other states, but ...