Aaron Schock is resigning from Congress. But there will be a lot more ‘Aaron Schocks’ in the future
The most remarkable thing about Rep. Aaron Schock's surprising resignation announcement on Tuesday was how little any of his colleagues seemed to care.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who didn't know of Schock's decision until it became public, put out a statement praising the Illinois Republican for "putting the best interests of his constituents and the House first." And that was about it. By Wednesday morning, the race to succeed him in the 18th Congressional District was already well underway, with state Sen. Darrin LaHood, the son of a former Illinois Republican congressman, already announcing a bid.
It was as though Schock had simply disappeared, an odd sort of vanishing given just how high a profile the Illinois millennial commanded during his very brief time in office. But Schock's rise is likely to be a blueprint for future ambitious pols -- although the way his career has ended, at least for now, won't be something many rising stars aspire to
Consider this: Schock had 18,300 more followers on Instagram -- an account that he has now made private -- than he had sponsored bills in Congress. (He sponsored zero bills.) He had 34,873 more "likes" on his Facebook page than bills sponsored. He had 27,700 more Twitter followers than bills sponsored.
Read anything about Schock's time in Congress and it amounts to this: Schock wanted to be considered for higher office. Whether that was as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the speakership (ha!) or the governorship of Illinois, Schock's main contribution in Congress -- aside from his social media presence -- seemed to be eyeing jobs he didn't have and raising money so that one day he might have them.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/18/aaron-schock-is-resigning-from-congress-but-there-will-be-a-lot-more-aaron-schocks-in-the-future/
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