Schock photo - Congressman gets extra image space at state fair

Aaron Schock, a U.S. congressman from Peoria and a possible GOP opponent to Democratic Gov. Quinn in 2014, takes casts a large image in Springfield. (Dave McKinney photo)

By Dave McKinney

It’s a good thing Illinois Republicans pride themselves on having a big-tent philosophy.

They need a big tent at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, after all, just to house a picture of potential 2014 gubernatorial candidate Aaron Schock, a U.S. congressman from Peoria who is being talked up as a possible GOP opponent to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in 2014.

Schock’s mug is featured dramatically in a larger-than-life, floor-to-ceiling poster that says “He’s done a lot . . . He’ll do more.”

While other potential GOP gubernatorial rivals also have literature inside the party’s tent, Schock’s image by far is the largest of anyone appearing on the fall ticket or beyond, including Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.