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It’s official: Aaron Schock is running for Congress
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Candidate
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| Contributor | ev |
| Last Edited | ev Aug 08, 2007 03:39am |
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| Category | Blog Entry |
| News Date | Sunday, August 5, 2007 09:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | It’s official: Aaron Schock is running for Congress
August 5, 2007 – 2:11 am | by Billy Dennis
I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised.
There was a part some of me that thought, “Ya know. Even someone as ambitious as State Rep. Aaron Schock has got to think that there are a lot of voters out there who just don’t think someone as young as he is ought to be in Congress.”
But then there is a BIGGER part of my brain that says. “Of course he was going to run. What was he going to do instead? Serve another 20 years in Springfield waiting for some other guy to retire so he can have his turn?” No, Schock is all about not waiting for his turn. He knows politics isn’t about sharing and playing nice. It’s about winning and not being afraid of losing.
So as soon as it was official that Ray LaHood wasn’t going to see re-election for the 18th District seat in the House, Schock was on the phone scooping up endorsements. Why wait? Is he qualified? Well, he meets the official qualifications, but the only un-official qualification is whether or not voters will vote for him. Voters didn’t care much about his youth and inexperience when he won a write-in campaign for school at District 150. And his youth and inexperience didn’t matter when he defeated an incumbent to win a seat in the General Assembly and again when he beat a city council member who was backed by the Speaker of the House.
So, yeah. I’m gonna have to say that unless the still-popular Bob Michel comes out of retirement, Schock is the one to beat for the nomination.
If you listen to conventional wisdom, that means Schock is going to be out new Congressman because history shows that the 18th is a lock for the GOP. However, a case can be made that the 18th District’s reputation as a GOP stronghold is overblown because of circumstances. LaHood’s only serious foe was G. Douglas Stephens, an attorney who earlier had failed to beat Michel. No one else could even be considered |
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