U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock shouldn’t have it both ways.
Peoria’s two-term Republican Congressman has been mentioned as a possible GOP candidate for governor in 2014, and the 31 year old has been quoted as saying his party should move toward the middle of the road – especially following last month’s election losses.
Although Schock easily was re-elected, his opponent was neither well-funded nor very strong. Further, within Schock’s district in west-central Illinois, 8 of 10 counties between Peoria and the Quad Cities voted for President Obama: Fulton, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island and Warren (McDonough and Stark went for Romney).
Echoing respected and accomplished Republicans including former Gov. Jim Edgar, Schock told the Associated Press, “You’re going to have candidates who are more centrist and know how to communicate and appeal to moderates.”
Cynics may scoff and reference “flip-flops” like those by Mitt Romney, who Schock supported, or his remark could mean he’s taking himself out of the running – or honing his charm for fooling (er, “appealing to”) moderates, or considering the wide common ground that Illinoisans of all preferences share.
In fact, reasonable people might see his comment and think fondly of Edgar, current State Rep. David Leitch or other levelheaded Republicans, from Illinois’ Chuck Percy to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, from Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. Richard Schweiker (Ronald Reagan’s 1976 primary running mate) to Michigan Gov. George Romney (who sometimes changed his mind, like about the Vietnam War, but was strong and steady about issues such as Civil Rights).
There may be lessons for a GOP candidate for governor. Conservative Michael Tanner in National Review said, “The problem is not just a matter of [Republicans’] stance on the issues, but their tone. It’s not just that Republicans oppose abortion or gay marriage, but that they often sound intolerant and self-righteous in doing so.
“Republicans are going to have to do some serious soul searching in several respects,” Tanner continued, “or this defeat will just be the beginning.”
Illinois GOP chair Pat Brady told the AP, “We’ve got to get over this caricature of us as being a bunch of angry people standing in the way of everything.”
However, the Republican Party platform – which the New York Times called “mean-spirited and intolerant” – opposed economic stimulus, health-care reform, addressing climate change, reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, campaign finance limits, and regulating Big Banks, and advocated extending tax breaks for the rich, privatizing Amtrak and Social Security, and downsizing the Post Office and Medicare/Medicaid.
Schock’s indication that centrism is not unappealing was heard in unexpected calls for greater openness and diversity.
“This was a party-wide defeat and should be thought of as a profound wake-up call,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote about the election. “For … the Republican Party to succeed in the future … we will have to learn the lessons of 2012. We need to be inclusive.”
(Illinois’ Congressional delegation has no minority or women Republicans.)
Other Republicans were more abrasive. For instance, ex-GOP Congressman from Florida Joe Scarborough on MSNBC called what the Republican Party has become “the stupid party.”
Meanwhile, gubernatorial hopefuls include State Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, and State Treasurer Dan Rutherford. Two August polls list Schock, too, but had him trailing. A Daily Herald poll of GOP convention delegates gave Rutherford 73.1% support, Dillard 9.6% and Schock 5.8%; an Illinois Manufacturers’ Association poll of likely Republican voters conducted by its “We Ask America” service showed Brady with 24.05% support, Rutherford 10.62%, Dillard 8.66% and Schock 7.35%.
Some prospective candidates might be tempted to try to outdo the very conservative Bill Brady, who lost to Quinn in 2010, but maybe Edgar’s rational demeanor is influencing others.
Schock’s problem is his track record, exemplified by his “performance review” by various interest groups – and his own words. Legislative scorecards from different organizations demonstrate Schock’s appeal is not to centrists, but to conservatism’s fringes.
The American Conservative Union scored Schock at 83%; the liberal Americans for Democratic Action, 0%.
The Religious Right group Family Research Council, 90%; the Children’s Health Fund, 0%.
Christian Coalition, 100%; the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, an “F.”
National Rifle Association, 92%; the League of Conservation Voters, 15%
Heritage Foundation, 57%; the Campaign for America’s Future (on Schock’s support for the middle class), 0%.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 93%; the AFL-CIO labor federation, 31%
National Right to Life Committee, 100%; Planned Parenthood, 0%
American Farm Bureau, 100%; the National Farmers Union, 0%
In the National Journal’s assessment of Congress’s liberals and conservatives, Schock scores conservative on economic policy, foreign policy and social policy. The independent “That’s My Congress” outfit gauged Schock’s track record as 72% conservative and 9% liberal.
Mainstream interest groups also give Schock failing grades: the Alliance for Retired Americans (0%), the American Library Association (13%), the American Nurses Association (0%), the Arab American Institute (5%), the Food Policy Action (36%), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] (28%), the National Education Association (an “F”), and the National Latino Congreso/William C. Velasquez Institute gave a 0% to Schock, who voted against the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act – yet last month told the Chicago Sun-Times, “The group that we really have to zero in on, I believe, is the Latino community, a group that really should be voting for Republicans to the degree we take a leadership role on the issue of immigration.”
The non-profit international human rights organization Global Exchange released an exhaustive report on Representatives and Senators beholden to the Financial, Insurance and Real Estate sector and determined that Schock is “100%” loyal to Wall Street.
However, the notorious John Birch Society – which once sought to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, a moderate Republican, for the court’s ruling on school desegregation – endorsed Schock’s track record with a 68% score.
More revealing, perhaps, is a harsh letter Schock sent during the campaign between incumbent Democrat State Sen. Dave Koehler and Republican businessman Pat Sullivan. Schock wrote that Democrats have “a socialist economic philosophy” and that Koehler is “an unrepentant left-wing fanatic,” “strident and extreme” and with “a nanny state mentality” who’s cast “radical liberal votes.”
On the other hand, perhaps Schock’s comments about centrism reveal a welcome chance for a change, at least for rude rhetoric to be abandoned as ineffective and irrelevant.
Contact Bill at Bill.Knight@hotmail.com; his twice-weekly columns are archived at billknightcolumn.blogspot.com