Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) holds the distinction of being one of just two current congressmen who served with President-elect Barack Obama in the Illinois State Senate. In an interview with RealClearPolitics yesterday, Roskam talked about the outlook for Obama's presidency, the appointment of Roland Burris to Obama's former Senate seat and the forthcoming economic recovery bill.

"His rise is surprising," Roskam said of Obama going from the state Senate to the presidency in four years, "not only for me and all the state senators that served with him, but for the American public as well."

The two overlapped in the state Senate from 2000-2004, until Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate. Roskam would follow Obama to Washington two years later, keeping the open 6th congressional district seat in Republican hands in a year Democrats picked up 30 Republican seats.

Roskam said Obama could struggle to live up to some of the unrealistic expectations many Americans have of his presidency. "That's a pretty tough standard to live up to," Roskam said of the sky-high expectations for Obama. "His challenge is going to be managing and getting expectations under control. I look forward to working with him, and I know I speak for most House Republicans, too."

Obama's former Senate seat was at the center of the biggest story of the new Congress's commencement yesterday. Burris, Roskam's fellow Illinois native, arrived at the Capitol seeking to take the Senate seat that scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him to, but he was turned away.

"It's obviously not about Roland Burris, it's about the process," Roskam said. "He's accepted the appointment from a governor with an incredible scandal hanging over his head. What the United States Senate doesn't need is the influence of Rod Blagojevich."

Roskam didn't want to comment too much on the economic stimulus bill that will make its way through Congress over the next six weeks. However, his optimism for the bill's outcome seemed to match that of Republican leadership, who said Monday they felt good about the bipartisan formation of the bill and Obama's promise of tax relief inclusion.

"I am very pleased to hear talk of substantive tax cuts, and want to obviously reserve judgment because no one's seen the package," Roskam said. "The incoming administration is acknowledging the power of cutting taxes, which has been a Republican argument for a long, long time."