HUGH HEWITT'S OH-SO-PROBING QUESTIONS FOR SCOTT WALKER

Hugh Hewitt's going to be one of the questioners at an early Republican presidential debate, and he wants you to know that he's going to avoid certain questions:

Hugh Hewitt will not be asking questions about contraceptives at CNN’s Republican presidential debate.

In an interview with radio host Aaron Klein that will air Sunday night on New York’s AM 970 The Answer, Hewitt ruled out certain types of questions completely.

“I don’t care what people think about evolution,” he told Klein. “I don’t care. I never cared. I don’t care if they know how old the earth is and I just have never cared about personal religious beliefs.”

He's going to ask about serious things:

Instead, Hewitt said the emphasis should be on foreign policy, with issues like ISIS and Iran taking precedence....

“To me, foreign affairs comes first, not last,” Hewitt said.

And you can get a sense of his likely approach, and the importance he places on foreign policy, in this interview he did with Scott Walker on January 6, shortly after Walker's secon inauguration as governor of Wisconsin.

After a brief chat about the inaugural and then then-upcoming Super Bowl, Hewitt asked a joking first question ("Has anyone filed recall papers on you, yet?"). This was followed by some banter about college football. ("Now Governor, I am relieved that you’re on, because after the beatdown that my Ohio State Buckeyes put on your Badgers in the Big Ten championship. I wasn’t sure that you, Reince or Representative Ryan would ever be back.")

After that, we got to the meat of the interview, and boy, did things get serious and issue-oriented. Here's every question Hewitt went on to ask Scott Walker:

HH: ... Now let me ask you the key question for the national audience, Governor. I want to talk about Wisconsin, but people want to know. Have you ruled out a run in 2016?

HH: When do you think you have to decide by, Governor Walker?

HH: Now I looked up today, because I wanted to ask you about Mrs. Walker, and discovered that Tonette Tarantino Walker is her name, and I am all mixed up with Tarantinos out of Ohio, out of Ashtabula. So I’m glad you have a Tarantino in the family. But what does Tonette think about a national campaign having basically been on the stump with you through three elections in four years?

HH: What, is she okay with it?

HH: Now I, because of the nature of my business, I talk to everyone about this, and you are almost everybody’s second choice to be the Republican nominee, and many people’s first choice. But I hear the same two questions again and again, so I want to pose them to you first in 2015.

HH: First of all, you’re too nice to beat Hillary. Can you beat Hillary?

HH: The second thing I always hear, in a field full of lawyers and even one doctor, Rand Paul and a couple of businessmen, you’re the only guy without a college degree.

HH: What do you say to that?

HH: That’s a terrific response, Governor. Now I’ve got to ask you about, you talked in your inaugural address yesterday about a lot of things, one of which was reforming education. Common Core is the most volatile issue I have run into in my 15 years on the air. I mean, it makes people crazy.

HH: What is going on in Wisconsin with regards to Common Core? What’s Scott Walker’s view on it?

HH: Do you expect this issue to dominate Republican primaries?

HH: Now Governor Walker, the other issue is national defense. People are very worried about the way the world is right now. And our Navy is down to 260-280 ships, and they want to retire, mothball carriers, and they don’t have a replacement ballistic submarine. Are you smart enough and ready enough to get smart on the Navy and the national defense issues? I know you’re the head of the National Guard in Wisconsin, but it’s a completely different world. Can you run as a hawk and be believable?

HH: Last question, who’s advising you on Defense issues? Who will, you know, give you the rundown on how many ships we need, carriers, ballistic missiles, all that sort of stuff?

HH: That’s terrific.

HH: Governor Scott Walker, I hope you are back early and often throughout 2015. A great congratulations on your second term, and best wishes for the Badger State. Thanks for supporting the Buckeyes as well.

Wow, that's probing -- and so focused on the nuts and bolts of foreign policy.

Can't wait for Hewitt to approach the debate with this level of seriousness.