Most people outside of West Virginia had never heard of Doug Skaff before he got bit by snakes.
After losing a GOP primary, he was taking down his campaign signs when he stepped on two copperheads, a mom and baby. Now he’s hurting like heck in a hospital bed. (See story here.)
Skaff has been snakebit before, figuratively speaking. Bad things started happening to the former Democratic legislator even before he switched parties to run for secretary of state. He was arrested for DUI, lost a race for state senate, and was banned from the state’s casinos for cheating at blackjack. (See details here.)
Switching parties made sense under those circumstances. If you’re dishonest, and want to be a secretary of state, your best bet is to run as a Republican. Bad character isn’t a bar to anything in that party, and while I’ve never been to West Virginia, I’d bet drunk driving isn’t either in that alcohol-soaked and drug-addicted state. This may not be the final chapter of Skaff’s colorful political career, because he’s expected to survive.