Politics: Flight of the Byrd

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Silent Proof. A handful of other Southern Democratic officeholders have switched to the G.O.P. in recent years, but a large migration does not seem imminent. Though many prominent Southern Democrats favor Republican policy on racial issues, most recognize that Republicans on the local level are still distrusted in the South as the party of the rich. Furthermore, none of those Democrats who now hold committee chairmanships are willing to risk them by switching, as did South Carolina's Strom Thurmond. Nor need they. South Carolina Democrat L. Mendel Rivers privately favored Independent George Wallace over Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Instead of bolting, he let his constituents know exactly where he stood by keeping his silence—thus keeping his Armed Services Committee chairmanship as well.