18th district race heats up.

Meanwhile, down in the Peoria area 18th district, we've got this clever graphic floating around...



This campaign broadside is in reference to the fact that the 27 year old Schock got President Bush himself to appear in Peoria at a fundraiser for his campaign.

As the Peoria Journal Star puts it in it's endorsement of Schock,

How many other 27-year-olds manage to get the leader of the free world in town for a fundraiser? President Bush's visit in July came with controversy about who should pick up the tab for local security, but Schock weathered that, too.

Bush's little visit for a money party cost local government $40,000 for security and all the numerous expenses associated with a presidential visit.

Did the federal governent pick up the cost? Nope. It was a political trip, so rightfully it shouldn't.

Then the Schock campaign obviously ponied up, right? Nope.

Schock left his local taxpayers on the hook for the $40,000, meaning that they had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in order for HIM to raise money for HIS political campaign.

Nice work if you can get it, eh?

Apparently to the PJ-Star, managing to survive a scandal makes you a qualified representive, leave aside the propriety of the issue.

Another blot on Schock's record is mentioned in the same piece:

Later questions were raised about Schock's role in helping his father attempt to set up a tax shelter seven years ago, when as a notary public Schock improperly backdated documents by 16 months. Schock described it as a "clerical error" and said his father did not profit from it. The Peoria County state's attorney's office chose not to pursue the matter, partly because the statute of limitations had expired.

Judging from the policy positions listed in the PJ-Star's endorsement, Schock is almost the reincarnation of failed and wrong-headed Bush policy. He apes the Bush approach right down the line.

Yet the Star manages to toss the many questionable marks against Schock, ignores his adherance to demonstrably wrong Bush policys, and endorses him anyway.

A damn weird way to justify an endorsement.