Sunday School 7/17/22

I usually kick myself when I don't pay attention, but I'm kinder when the thing I'm not paying attention to is "Meet the Press." 

MTP won the draw for classroom of the week and I dutifully set off looking for the video and transcript, only to find that there was no show today. Seems there was some golf going on across the pond, and that's more important than Chuck Todd and the gang.

 CNN's State of the Union won the replacement draw. Let's dive in with Dana Bash and term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ). Ducey's supporting Karrin Taylor Robson in the GOP primary to pick his replacement; her main opponent, Kari Lake, is supported by Donald Trump. 

Ducey said Taylor Robinson "is the real conservative," citing she worked for Ronald Reagan, and "she's pro-wall, pro-gun, pro-life." He said she'll be "the best person to be a fresh new leader" for Arizona. He was less generous to her opponent, nicknamed 'Fake Lake', saying she

bears no resemblance, her campaign or even her personal interactions with me, to anything she's done over the past 30 years. This is all an act. She's been putting on a show for some time now. And we will see if the voters of Arizona buy it.

Bash wondered if the Republican Governors Association would support Lake if she wins the primary. Ducey talked about how the RGA works and how it works to '" keep our states red ...but we don't support lost causes." Bash honed in Doug Mastriano in PA, wondering if he was a "lost cause."  Ducey said no decisions have been made yet given it's still early.

When Bash asked if someone like Mastriano "should be in such an important swing state in the governor's mansion," Ducey said 

I also think this election should be about the future. I don't think we should think for one more moment about 2020. This is about the 2022 election cycle. And, as I said, the job of the RGA is to elect Republican governors, and that's what we're going to do in this cycle.

Next Bash asked if Ducey thought Trumps "actions...or inaction" on January 6th should prevent him from ever holding office again. He said he condemned what happened that day, and that "everyone that broke the law should be held accountable."

In our system, this is up to the voters on what happens next. So many people want to talk about 2024. And I want to resist that temptation to talk about hypotheticals. I think the best way for us to turn this page and to move forward as a conservative Republican Party and a country is to make sure we get the best possible people elected in 2022. And that's my focus, as well as running the state of Arizona, every single day. 

And, would he support Trump in 2024? He thinks there'll be options in 2024. Well, kind of. 

I am hopeful we will have options. And I want somebody who can win that general election, because I believe, with success in 2022, the general election is the Republican Party's for the taking. 

Speed round stuff:

• He's not fan of "gimmicks" like a gas tax holiday; Arizona's gas taxes are among the lowest in the country already. President Biden shouldn't be asking "despots" for help, he should "open up the Keystone pipeline... work with America's energy leaders and provide more supply of fossil fuels, of clean energy, and solve this crisis." 

• Earlier this year, Ducey signed a ban on abortions after 15 weeks, but there's a 1901 law that "bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother," which his AG is trying to re-instate. The law stuff will be figured out by the lawyers, but he personally stands by how he ran in 2014: he's "pro-life, with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape, and incest."

• He also signed a law allowing any student - including those from wealthy families - to use public funds to pay for private schools. He clarified kids don't get vouchers; it's "a scholarship for all 1,1oo,1oo" students in AZ. He's "not concerned about" the wealthy, he's "concerned about poor families" who are being blocked by "union-backed politicians" who won't let minorities out of "failing public schools." He thinks all governors, no matter their politics, should do the same thing he did.

• Asked why not just get public funding to the people who need the help, Ducey said "Public education is about educating our public. And I believe in equal opportunity for all of our students and all of our families." To him this is how to "renew American K-12 education" and, in doing so, "to renew America..." He said Arizona's already number one for school choice, and with the new plan, "we're going to take it to the next level."

How'd you think he did? Drop a comment if you like.

See you around campus.