Meghan McCain: Is Schock the GOP's Mr. Right?

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/31/art.schockabs0331.tmz.jpg caption="In a new blog post, Meghan McCain discusses Rep. Aaron Schock."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - At 27 years old, Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock is the youngest member of Congress. He's also possessed of washboard abs and has, as of late, become a favorite target of celebrity gossip outlet TMZ. And the daughter of the last Republican presidential candidate thinks he might just be the answer to the GOP's troubles.

Related: TMZ focuses on Illinois Republican

"The first time I ever heard of Congressman Aaron Schock, I was hanging out with some friends during a girls' night in, and one of my friends yelled to me from the other room: 'Meghan, there's a congressman on TMZ,'" Meghan McCain writes Tuesday in her latest blog post for the Daily Beast. "To which I answered: 'Twenty bucks he's a Democrat.' Well, I was wrong."

"...At the end of the day, Congressman Schock is only three years older than me. Which means he can relay a message in ways my father never could," she says.

TMZ is owned by Time Warner, which is also the parent company of CNN.

McCain gives Schock high marks for reaching out to demographic groups that do not traditionally vote Republican, for his calls for greater ideological flexibility, and his decision to avoid negative campaign ads.

Related: Schock on flying with Obama

"As someone who has been personally attacked when I invited political discourse, I firmly believe that talking about our differences - instead of mudslinging - can only bring people closer to the Republican Party and force them to take a second look at their candidates," she writes, referring to recent public spats with conservative commentators Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter.

McCain says the "congressman-turned-TMZ-hottie" may be the cure for what ails the GOP: "If nothing else, in an Obama-crazed land, he is getting people's attention and putting another fresh face at the center of what it is too often perceived as an old-news, boring party."

Related: Schock voted 'hottest freshman' by HuffPost's readers