BATAVIA -- About 60 of Ohio's 88 counties can be fairly classified as reliably red.

But, except for a few small counties where almost no one lives, none is redder or more important politically than the three contiguous counties that surround Greater Cincinnati's Hamilton County.

Clermont, Warren and Butler counties are places that make southwest Ohio the state's fastest-growing region.

And these three counties haven't had a blue Election Day since 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson easily beat Republican challenger Barry Goldwater.

Here, in the rolling hills of exurbia, just a few miles north of Kentucky, the Tea Party isn't a political curiosity.

It's a juggernaut -- a force that keeps people like Dave Lane awake at night.

Lane is an affable man -- no small feat, given that for the last eight years he's been chairman of the Clermont County Democratic Party.

Democrats hold no countywide offices here. And the chances of that changing anytime soon are pretty much nonexistent.

Sipping iced tea at an outdoor coffee shop, the 60-year-old communications consultant and former television news reporter spoke of the frustration in trying to change the county's political culture.

"If I could get my dog, Leo, registered to vote and get him through the Republican primary, he'd be a shoo-in," Lane said, somewhat seriously, of his 8-year-old Jack Russell terrier.

When Republican leaders in Clermont County recruit candidates, Lane thinks their philosophy is quite simple: "The crazier the better."

Today, the face of politics in Clermont County belongs to Union Township's John Becker, a first-term state representative.

Becker is well-educated, collegial, and harbors political views miles from the mainstream.

Becker's eye-popping beliefs first caught my attention when a Gongwer News Service story wrote of him that the thought of law-enforcement agencies melting down confiscated guns moves him to tears.

"It literally brings a tear to my eye, because some of them are very nice weapons," said Becker, who has introduced a bill that would essentially prohibit the practice of melting down "perfectly good weapons."

Another Becker bill would expand the right to carry concealed weapons in state buildings, including the Statehouse.

But Becker's radical views aren't limited to guns. Although 2012 was his first run for elected office, his website (beckergop.com) contains a gold mine of political thought.

Thoughts like:

• Suggesting that expelling Massachusetts from the union for allowing gay marriage is an idea that "can not be dismissed out of hand."

• Writing in a letter to the editor, "If Jesus Christ were walking the earth as a man today, the liberals would likely label Him as a radical right-wing hate mongering wacko Bible-thumping fundamentalist anti-women homophobic bigot and perhaps even a Nazi . . . . He would certainly be crucified by the press (He warned against the scribes.)"

• A 2001 letter about same-sex marriage, sent to The Cincinnati Enquirer, asked, "What about marrying the family pet? If society is going to debate same sex marriage, we must also contemplate polygamy, incest and bestiality."

• Establishing "condom free zones" around schools.

• Allowing Alaska to leave the union so it can rid itself of oil-drilling restrictions.

"I would challenge anyone to name any legislator who is more conservative than me," boasted the 51-year-old, lifelong southwest Ohio resident. "Good luck with that. We are a big, diverse county, but one thing we have in common is we are overwhelmingly conservative."

But Lane thinks the conservative label doesn't fit Becker.

"He's actually a kook," said Lane. "He's the first certified kook Clermont County has sent to Columbus."

Steve Myers thinks Becker is "an anarchist" who wants to "take us back to around the 1830s."

Last year, Myers was Becker's Democratic opponent for the House seat. Although he received only 31 percent of the vote, Myers plans to run against Becker again next year.

"My father and uncles were World War II veterans and everything they fought for, this Tea Party, this radical right, wants to tear apart," said Myers. "John Becker and I were in five debates last year. I beat him badly in every one of those five."

Becker shrugs off the harsh rhetoric, perhaps because he knows the chances of his losing to Steve Myers or any other Democrat are pretty near zero.

"In politics, you expect to get criticism," he said. "I'm not offended by it at all. If they want to insult the voters of Clermont County, we'll let those voters decide."

Actually, they already have.

Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.