Following his election to Congress in the 18th District, GOP State Rep. Aaron Schock hit the national stage yesterday with an appearance on MSNBC.  At the top of the segment, anchor David Shuster asked him, "Are you ready for this?"  Shock's response: "Ready or not, here it comes." 

Well, that's encouraging.

Schock went on to tell Shuster he looks forward to working with his "Democratic colleagues," adding: "Having the president from my home state as a freshman congressman certainly has its benefits."  This is a slightly different perspective on Obama than the one Schock put forth earlier this week from the friendly confines of WLS' Don Wade & Roma Morning Show.  Listen to this excerpt from Wednesday's program:

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ROMA: Barack Obama is the president-elect, which means it's a whole new world.  So anything can happen, Aaron.

SCHOCK: Well, it is a whole new world and it's I think a little scary depending on what kind of changes are made.  You know, the last guy that ran on the theme of change was a man named Rod Blagojevich, who ran for governor in Illinois, who said he was going to change the way business is done in this state.  And we all know what that means.  You know, change for the sake of change does not mean it's positive.  

You know, the economic slump that we're in right now can get better or worse depending on what kind of tax policies are promoted at the national level.  And I'm really concerned about which direction we may be heading.

Speaking of Obama, we can't overlook Schock's warning back in August about the Democratic nominee's "level of socialism."  I'm guessing he isn't going to take that rhetoric to the cable networks.  But we'll see.

Finally, it pretty hilarious to see Schock casting a wary eye at Obama's change message, considering that his campaign tried to co-opt it earlier this year.  From a July 20 Peoria Journal-Star article:

[Campaign manager Steve] Shearer said Schock is like Obama in that he represents change and people are inspired by him.

And let's not forget that the state delegation's slogan at the Republican National Committee this year was "Change For Illinois."