Politics: Lyons to investigate Schock
Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons is going to investigate whether or not State Rep. Aaron Schock broke any laws when he backdated tax-shelter documents for his father eight years ago.
Setting side whether or not Schock should* be charged with a crime, let’s look at the potential winners and losers here.
If Lyons charges Schock with a crime (probably a misdemeanor). it’s possible Lyons picks up a few votes for the effort. I know more Democrats who are crossing over to LaHood than the other way around. It’s possible there are Schock-hating Democrats who might swing back to Lyons is he slaps Schock with a misdemeanor. My gut feeling is that there aren’t all that many.
If Lyons doesn’t charge Schock with anything, it might cement Lyons’ rep as someone with a tendency to turn the other cheek for officials charged with breaking the rules. It’s possible some Schock supporters will thank him with votes. I don’t see many doing that, however. Most ardent Schock supporters are ardent Republicans.
And in either case, how is Darin LaHood supposed to react? If Lyons does charge Schock, is he going to criticize Lyons for soing so? After all, Schock is a fellow Republican. LaHood would come off as a putting party above the law.
If Lyons doesn’t charge Schock, does LaHood criticize THAT decision? Oh, HELL no. There’s no risk in Schock supporters giving their votes to Lyons in this case, and it might score some votes from those Democrats who really dislike Schock, but were on the fence in the state’s attorney race. But if LaHood is were to demand prosecution of Schock, he better make sure Schock is going to lose, because one doesn’t want to make an enemy of a sitting U.S. Congressman.
So, I’m guessing LaHood keeps him mouth shut if Lyons does nothing.
Are there any independents or undecideds out there who haven’t made up their minds about Schock/LaHood? I’m thinking that’s probably the case in the Peoria area, but maybe not so much out in the hinterlands of the 18th District. Schock has never represented voters outside Peoria County. A newspaper article or a broadcast report that Schock has been charged with official misconduct might sway some folks to give their votes instead to that nice farm lady who is good friends with Congressman Ray.
Months ago, the polls showed Schock with a commanding lead. I haven’t seen a recent poll. I’m not sure that at this late date, whether there’s enough time to ship away enough of that lead. But it’s exactly this sort of thing that can cause an upset. Which is exactly why Schock’s Democratic rival Colleen Callahan held press conferences all over the district today to demand an investigation.
* Yeah, I know it’s a cynical way to look at it. But I guarantee the campaigns are mulling over the same questions right now. Besides, Im no lawyer and I have no idea if a crime was committed or even is there’s a statute of limitations.
Tags: Aaron Schock, Colleen Callahan, Darin LaHood, Kevin Lyons
October 17th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Possible abuse of the public’s trust for monetary gain is ALWAYS bad for a campaign. I think that it is just another nail in the coffin for someone contesting an open seat with so many lapses in judgment.
As to the single poll commissioned this summer, POS is a republican polling operation so we really don’t know.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
The question isn’t about the illegal back dating of financial documents but rather that Aaron was willing to misuse his public notary office to assist his parents in setting up a tax avoidance scheme. We have all heard these pitches from scam artists about how to avoid paying taxes by transferring assets to trusts, phony corporations or offshore bank accounts while we continue to live off the gross income and not pay any taxes. It seems disingenuous of Aaron to seek federal employment paid for by US taxpayers after his family was trying to stretch the tax laws to avoid paying federal income taxes. Perhaps Aaron isn’t releasing his tax returns because he hasn’t been paying any federal income tax????
October 18th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Politics, Hell yes. Mr Lyons would not touch the Peoria Park district when citzens as for an investagation on open meetings acts. Guess he did not want to dip into that political pool. Private citzens spent hard earned money and won aginst the Peoria Park District. So it must be who you are when it comes to the States Attorney office in Peoria County. I will be glad when this election is over. All of the hipe will be over and we still will have problems reguardless who is in office.