It should be noted, that main "distinction" of Virginia's Byrd machine was an economic conservatism. In almost every other Southern state there was a lot of socially conservative, hawkish and frequently - racist Democrats at that time. But usually these Dmocrats were more populist and appreciative of government interference in economy. Not so in Virginia, where "leaders" were economically conservative as well..
VA Democrats always had a revolving door between politics and the business community in those days. I'd assume it's because Virginia was, along with the Carolinas, the only part of the South that had a noteworthy manufacturing and industrial sector. People in the Deep South scratching out a miserable living as cotton sharecroppers, and their landlords who often didn't fare much better, could have cared less about a "friendly business climate."
