Ted Yoho (R-FL)-- Perfect Match For Clay County

Ted Yoho was a back-country veterinarian, more the kind who work with cattle and horses rather than dogs and cats, when he ran against longtime Establishment incumbent Cliff Stearns, a wealthy Republican who imagined his seat was impregnable. In a 4-way contest, Yoho, a Tea Party extremist with backing from Michele Bachmann, Allen West and Paul Ryan, beat Stearns by a razor thin 1.1% in the Republican primary. The DCCC didn't bother running anyone and the local grassroots candidate had no money, no support and no chance. FL-03 has a PVI of R+14, redder than any district Democrats win in, except Jim Matheson's (UT) and Nick Rahall's (WV), two special circumstance congressmen who are very much on the verge of losing their seats next year.

As far as I can tell, there is no Democrat running against Yoho yet. Even though Alachua County (Gainseville) is competitive and winnable for Democrats-- Obama beat Romney there 58-41%-- it's only the 2nd biggest county in the district. The biggest is blood red Clay County, a right-wing hellhole south of Jacksonville. Romney slaughtered Obama 72-27%. The bigots of Clay County is what keeps serious Democrats from running in FL-03. The 5-man County Board are all Republicans. Last year, Republican Senate candidate Connie Mack only won 42% of the vote statewide, but beat Bill Nelson 64-33% in Clay, his best showing in the state outside the western Panhandle, which is politically more like Alabama than like the rest of Florida.

Anyway, Yoho was in the news this week for comments he made a few days ago about a Tea Party birther bill he's co-sponsoring with domestic terror suspect Steve Stockman (R-TX).

[Yoho] said he was hopeful that a birther investigation could bring down the whole government: “They said if it is true, it’s illegal, he shouldn’t be there and we can get rid of everything he’s done, and I said I agree with that.”

Yoho also seemed to embrace the right-wing claim that Obamacare is “racist” because it taxes tanning beds, explaining that if he goes tanning then he will be “disenfranchised because I got taxed because of the color of my skin.”

Someone like Yoho is made for places like Clay County and Clay County is made for deranged and delusional candidates like Ted Yoho. They're perfect for each other and-- apologies to the 27%-- they deserve each other. As for the good folks in the western parts of Gainesville... if it really bothers you to be represented in Congress by a clown, move across town to Corrine Brown's district.