Progress Illinois

Earlier this month, we questioned GOP Rep.-elect Aaron Schock's statement in a fundraising letter that, towards the end of his campaign, he went "out on a limb financially by $80,000" to combat what he called "insidious, non-stop attacks."  The phrasing of the letter made it sound like he himself had donated that amount.  But all we could find in his campaign finance records at the time (which went up to October 15) was a $50,000 personal contribution towards the beginning of the campaign. 

Since then, Schock's campaign has filed their "post-general" report, which details their receipts and expenses between October 16 and November 24.  It answers our questions about Schock's "$80,000" figure, but also raises others.

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Congressman-elect Aaron Schock isn’t asking for much this holiday season. After ousting Democrat Colleen Callahan by a healthy 20-point margin in the 18th congressional district race, the 27-year-old Republican sent a letter to supporters on November 21 requesting for a bit of assistance to pay down his campaign debt. Here’s an excerpt from his plea (PDF), courtesy of the State Journal-Register’s Bernard Schoenburg:

The decision I had to make was to risk losing this seat from a carefully coordinated and perfectly timed attack coordinated by a biased journalist and insiduous, non-stop attacks by my opponent, or stand up to them by matching their burst of extra late campaign ad spending to hold our own in a campaign where so many volunteers and contributors had sacrificed enormously for 15 months to elect me to succeed Ray LaHood in serving you in Congress. [...]

I had to go against every fiber of my being in going out on a limb financially by $80,000 to keep from being overwhelmed by these coordinated attacks on top of the Obama tsunami.

What’s screwy about this appeal (besides the abundance of run-on sentences)?

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Following his election to Congress in the 18th District, GOP State Rep. Aaron Schock hit the national stage yesterday with an appearance on MSNBC.  At the top of the segment, anchor David Shuster asked him, "Are you ready for this?"  Shock's response: "Ready or not, here it comes." 

Well, that's encouraging.

Schock went on to tell Shuster he looks forward to working with his "Democratic colleagues," adding: "Having the president from my home state as a freshman congressman certainly has its benefits."  This is a slightly different perspective on Obama than the one Schock put forth earlier this week from the friendly confines of WLS' Don Wade & Roma Morning Show.  Listen to this excerpt from Wednesday's program:

Internal mp3

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As both Capitol Fax and Peoria Pundit noted yesterday evening, local media are reporting that the States Attorney office in Peoria has decided to investigate evidence that 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock notarized a backdated document for his parents.  The alleged incident -- which may amount to a misdemeanor -- occurred eight years ago and was recounted by Schock's father in court proceedings. 

When initially asked about it, Schock claimed it had simply been a "clerical mistake."  But his father's testimony makes clear that the backdating was absolutely intentional.

Democrat Colleen Callahan brought the evidence to the states attorney's attention and has been hitting the issue hard on the campaign trail.

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As we noted yesterday, 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock is taking some heat from his Democratic opponent over the revelation that he notarized a back-dated document for his parents in 2000.  The initial AP article quoted a notary public from New Jersey saying point-blank that doing so is "illegal."  Meanwhile, Schock contends that the job of a notary is simply to verify the identity of the signer.  Now he's describing the source of the controversy as a mere "clerical mistake":

“The fundamental role of a notary is to verify the person signing the document. Now, if there was an incorrect date on it, that was a mistake that I made. It was a clerical mistake and it was made over eight years ago. The relevance that has to the United States congressional race now, eight years later, I'm not sure”, said Shock.

A clerical mistake suggests that the back-dating was unintentional.  But the AP article makes clear that Schock's parents knew exactly what they were doing.

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In politics, it's all about timing. For 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock, a new AP article -- which suggests he may have committed a misdemeanor in his capacity as a notary public -- couldn't have come at a more inopportune moment.

Here's the gist of the piece. In 2000, Schock's parents, under the guidance of some tax specialists later accussed of tax fraud, put some of their money and property into a variety of corporations and a charitable trust beginning January 1, 2000 as a way to reduce their tax burden legally. Despite repeated requests, the specialists failed to provide some of the documents for the couple to sign until spring of the next year. Once they received the documents, their then 19-year old son Aaron, who became a notary while working at a gravel company in high school, watched his parents retroactively sign the document with the January 1 date, denoting the time themselves when the tax shelters were formally established.

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Wow.  Colleen Callahan, the Democratic candidate in the 18th congressional district, has a TV ad out this week and let's just say it's a bit of a throwback. The spot hits GOP State Rep. Aaron Schock for his ridiculous suggestion last year that we should consider selling nuclear arms to Taiwan if China doesn't cooperate with U.S. policy on Iran:

(H/T TPM Election Central)

Last night, State Rep. Aaron Schock became the only Illinoisan to grace the stage at the Republican National Convention. The 27 year-old, two-term state representative, who is running for Ray LaHood's open seat in the 18th Congressional District, is widely considered an up-and-comer in the party. In fact, he'd become Congress' youngest member if elected. But the topic of his two-minute speech -- that John McCain reaches out to Americans of all backgrounds, including inner-city residents -- seemed a bit surprising. Watch it:

I'd like to see some examples of how McCain is bringing inner-city Americans into the Republican fold. Back in June, the Center for New Urbanism noted that McCain's campaign website made no mention of urban policy. More recently, the Center for American Progress' Wonk Room pointed out that his site also lacks any plan to combat poverty.  And in early August, during an appearance before the National Urban League, McCain advocated fighting inner-city crime in the same ways that the U.S. military has "clamped down" on neighborhoods and cities in Iraq.  I'm sure that went over well ...

Meanwhile, Schock gleefully welcomed a recent fundraising visit from President Bush, who has not taken urban issues too seriously while in office.

Also, memo to the Daily Herald: Schock hasn't actually been elected to Congress, so you might want to change this headline:

The Illinois Republicans appear to have put on quite a display at the state fair this year.  We already noted the ramblings by 18th District GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock (above left) about Barack Obama's "level of socialism."  Meanwhile, as has been noted on numerous other sites, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna (above center) also put his foot in his mouth, saying that if Abraham Lincoln "were here today, he would have to tell a story of a house divided that’s even more outrageous than the one that lived in his time," referring to the political climate in Springfield these days. The Rockford Register-Star's Aaron Chambers rightly skewers McKenna's suggestion that the current standoff between Illinois Democrats is somehow "more outrageous" than the fight between the North and South over slavery.

But it doesn't stop there.  Earlier in the week, Rep. John Shimkus (above right) took to the stage on Agriculture Day and railed against the Democratic leadership in Congress for not allowing a vote on offshore drilling prior to the August recess.  Maybe it was all the hay laying around, but Shimkus couldn't resist building a strawman.  Check out his suggestion that his favored energy proposal is "in conflict to those who say, 'Let's do nothing'":

Internal mp3

But who has said we should "do nothing" about the energy crisis?

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One minute Aaron Schock's congressional campaign is likening the 18th District GOP candidate to Barack Obama, the next they're playing up the nominee's "socialist" leanings.  Bernard Schoenberg has the goods:

“If ever there was an election with consequences, this presidential election is a case in point,” Schock said while speaking at the fair’s Director’s Lawn at the Republican Day rally.

“The last time we had this level of socialism being proposed and inexperience at the helm was Jimmy Carter,” said Schock (who was born four months after Democrat Carter left office in 1981).

When pressed by Schoenberg, Schock distorts Obama's positions on health care and education:

“Well, he’s promoting what I would term a government takeover of the health system,” Schock said. “He has said he wants to mandate free college tuition for every student in America.

“Unlike Ted Kennedy (he meant Jack Kennedy, of course) who said, don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country ... he (Obama) says, we’re the wealthiest country in the world; you should get this, you should get that. You’re entitled to this, you’re entitled to that. To me, that’s a move toward socialism.”

You can compare Schock's characterizations to Obama's actualy policies here and here.

Schock also said Obama's "socialistic" policies extended back to his days in Springfield:

“And he has supported what I would consider to be socialistic moves on health care as a state senator.”

“I don’t remember the exact bills,” he said.

Well, that's convenient.

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