ACCORDING TO ROMNEY, VIRGINIA'S MOST PRESSING PROBLEM IS LYME DISEASE? WTF???

             This campaign is getting curiouser and curiouser...  While both candidates prepare for the first presidential debates, folks in Virginia are finding flyers in their mailboxes alerting them to a medical "epidemic" that Mitt Romney is worried about:  Lyme disease...

             Ohhhhh-kay... Lyme disease?  I mean, it's not all that uncommon here in Tennessee, and most of us are aware of the potential infection from tick bites.  But is Virginia being overwhelmed by cases of Lyme disease?  According to the CDC, there are fewer than 1,000 cases of confirmed Lyme disease annually in Virginia, out a 8 million citizens there.  I'd be willing to bet there are more cases of tennis elbow reported in Virginia (from doing excessive amounts of 12 ounce curls) than confirmed cases of Lyme disease.

             So why would Mitt want to campaign as the champion of Lyme disease sufferers in Virginia?

             That's where it gets interesting, especially if you're one of those people who keeps track of the Pander Express' schedule through swing states.

             It turns out that one of Viginia's social conservatives of note is guy named Michael Farris, and Farris claims his wife and all seven of his children are "chronic" sufferers of Lyme disease.  His wife is being treated by a doctor named Joseph Jemsek, who moved his practice to the D.C. area after having his license revoked in North Carolina because he routinely treated Lyme disease with long-term antibiotics, a practice that is frowned upon by mainstream medical experts.
             Here's a snapshot of Mitt meeting Farris on his campaign bus, courtesy of Mitt's Facebook page, according to Think Progress:

              So that's why Mitt's suddenly concerned about Lyme disease... An influential conservative in a swing state is obsessed with it (and for the record, Lyme disease is a horrible thing) and Mitt is nothing if not concerned about the concerns of influential social conservatives in swing states. 

              If Michael Farris was worried about alien abductions, people in Virginia would probably be receiving flyers from the Romney campaign pledging to defend The Old Dominion from ET and Predator.  Instead, they get scary warnings about deer ticks.