Take 2 is back after months away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot has changed and at the same time a lot has remained the same. It’s a new year but the same or similar problems remain.
We are still in the middle of a pandemic and the way forward is different depending on who you talk to.
Social unrest has bubbled up again the people demonstrating, and rioting have changed and the ones sitting home in disgust have swapped places.
We have a new governor, but a familiar face. A smooth transition of power.
On the flip side President Donald Trump today said he will not attend President-elect Biden’s inauguration, the first time a sitting president has forgone the tradition since 1869.
People still only like to hear people who agree with them and believe the same way. With that, a conversation we hope will help you see the other side and find some middle ground.
The Take 2 Podcast regulars were all back in the KUTV studios today with Heidi Hatch hosting Democrat and former lawmaker Jim Dabakis and Republican and former Speaker of the House Greg Hughes to discus a variety of topics less than three weeks before the 2020 election.
Long a vote-by-mail state, ballots started arriving in the mail for many Utahns, with only 18 more days before Election Day.
The pair also discussed Amendment G on the ballot and education funding with each having a view on how to vote on the issue.
President Donald Trump and candidate Joe Biden each had a town hall meeting last night, dueling on different channels. Instead of the scheduled debate, Trump was on NBC while Biden was on ABC, making their case to voters. Who won?
And what did Hughes and Dabakis have to say after Twitter and Facebook did allow a New York Post article on its platforms. Who should control what the public sees and hears?
“Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad” Should we be concerned about turning into China where information is filtered and the flow of information is controlled?
Former lawmakers Jim Dabakis (D) and Greg Hughes (R) are guests on another Take 2 episode with host Heidi Hatch.
Who won the vice presidential debate? The trio chimed in about who stood out and if the debate format and moderator were effective.
Though they don’t always agree, what the panel did align with was Utah being on the national stage was good for the state. They also agreed that Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence both avoided answering questions, such as their support for President Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee.
They also talked about the upcoming POTUS debate in Miami. Trump said it’s not a debate if you are talking to a computer screen. The Commission on Presidential Debates has since scrapped the planned matchup next week between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Podcast host Heidi Hatch is joined by former lawmakers Jim Dabakis (D) and Greg Hughes (R) for another Take 2 episode.
Dabakis joins the conversation from an “undisclosed location” while Hughes is live with Hatch in the 2News Podcast Room.
It took no time at all once the call started to be at odds over whether the Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah should take place considering President Trump’s recent positive COVID-19 test.
Dabakis says it should be canceled while Hughes is all for it going forward as planned.
What Hughes did say that even Dabakis couldn’t have agreed more with was his opinion that Trump should’ve allowed Presidential Democratic Candidate Joe Biden to talk in their debate that took place earlier in the week.
Other topics talked about are:
GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE: Any minds changed?
SPENCER COX TEAM: Tweeting out expenditures from the Jon Huntsman, Jr., campaign that proves he was behind his write-in campaign. Does it matter?
JOHN DOUGALL COVID-19 AUDIT: Silicon Slopes – should they be under the microscope? We still don’t know who signed off on an $800,000 state expenditure on Hydroxychloriquine.
Podcast host Heidi Hatch is joined by former lawmakers Jim Dabakis (D) and Greg Hughes (R) for another Take 2 episode.
The trio talked the legacy of the recently late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, also known as the notorious RBG and now the GOP gets to fill her seat on the court while Utah’s Mitt Romney was the vote Democrats were counting on.
They also discuss the debate in Utah’s Congressional District 1. Do ideas even matter in such a right-leaning district or is it simply a party vote? They also talk about the upcoming gubernatorial debate next Tuesday.
Additional topics:
COVID-19 numbers are growing, this week reaching its highest peak. Should there be a statewide mandate?
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson is pushing for one and will this hurt her chances in November?
Provo High school tried to move its homecoming game this week to circumvent new restrictions
The new number of cases this week should be deeply concerning for all Utahns. The good news is that we are not yet stressing our healthcare facilities and we have beaten a wave like this once already…you know what to do!…
Who should make decisions over when schools shutdown with COVID-19 cases?
The discussion on the weekly Take 2 podcast began with solemn commemoration of the 19 year anniversary of 9/11, a day when a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States included passenger airliners being hijacked and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
Podcast host Heidi Hatch, and former lawmakers Jim Dabakis (D) and Greg Hughes (R), recounted where they were Sept. 11, 2001, during the attacks.
The discussion then turned to current matters, such as the Senate Democrats walking away from the COVID-19 relief bill presented by the GOP. Is the deal dead until after the election – 53 day away?
Sen. Mitt Romney stated of the legislation:
We have an opportunity to either take steps to build on the important provisions we passed as a part of the CARES Act or we can do nothing. This targeted relief package, while not perfect, includes many important bipartisan provisions which would secure federal unemployment benefits, restart the Paycheck Protection Program, help parents with the expenses of childcare and homeschooling, and help our schools keep kids safe. Families, businesses, and communities in Utah need assistance now, not weeks or months down the road. I’m disappointed that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would not at the very least vote to move forward with this legislation today so we could have a debate on the merits.
Sen. Mike Lee posted on Twitter that the bill wasn’t perfect but it is a start to “real reforms.”
Additional topics discussed are:
Trump knew it was worse than the flu. Does this change any minds?
Bob Woodward releases book “Rage.”
5-15% undecided depending on poll.
Holy wind! Utah digging out from another mess. How are we doing at handling another crisis?
SLC schools push online start back a week with no power or WiFi.
Utah eliminates sexual assault backlog; 11,193 sexual assault kits tested, 5,025 DNA profiles entered into national database and 1,979 suspected identified through search of the DNA database. The turnaround time to process a kit is now 90 days instead of years
Western Wildfires: The left says climate change and the right says federal restrictions that don’t allow logging are to blame.
Real Housewives – Bravo releases the trailer. Who’s in to watch and is this good or bad for the great state of Utah?
2News Anchor Heidi Hatch is joined by former Utah State Sen. Jim Dabakis (D) and former Republican Speaker of the House, Greg Hughes, for another episode of Take 2.
Was the Republican convention at the White House illegal? Dabakis says yes, Hughes says no. And that’s not all they disagree about.
They go head-to-head on Utah’s 4th District GOP nominee Burgess Owens with Dabakis saying he has filed bankruptcy three times and Hughes responding with how charitable he is with starting a mentoring program for youth. They also grappled over topics including:
Attorney General Sean Reyes speech at the RNC,
“China Virus” – Who’s at fault?
Upcoming general election – Will Jon Huntsman Jr. be a write-in candidate?
2News Anchor Heidi Hatch reunites with former Utah State Sen. Jim Dabakis (D)and former Republican Speaker of the House, Greg Hughes.
The trio discusses topics that include what the former lawmakers have been up to since March and the current state of affairs amid a worldwide pandemic from the novel coronavirus. The conversation was lively and touched on the following:
Pandemic catch up:
What have you been doing since March?
How is the state doing with unemployment (New #’s out Friday)?
Back-to-school – was too soon?
Mask mandates
GOP primary is over or is it?
Will Huntsman run as a write-in?
Should he?
75 days until the election
Mail-In
Congressional races
Special Session
Legislators did not want to renew the state of emergency but the governor did.
Legislators called themselves into session: Does it matter?
Why was a $123 million funding bill submitted an hour or two before a vote?
DNC
All virtual – awesome or boring?
Who had the best speech?
Obama raking Trump over the coals. Was this a good look? 1st for a former President.
