Highlighting this week's discussion: Jeff Timmer and Mark Brewer take note of the Trump Education Secretary's recent high visibility in Michigan GOP events ... and ask longtime political consultant/analyst Matthew Dowd if the west Michigan billionaire may be angling to take on Gretchen Whitmer in 2022.

A native of Detroit, Dowd began his political career as a Democrat, as a member of Senator Lloyd Bentsen's Senate and campaign staffs. In 1999, he switched parties to become a Republican.

During the 2002 midterm elections, he was a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee; in the 2004 presidential election, he was chief strategist for George W. Bush's re-election campaign; in 2006 was the strategist for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection campaign.

Dowd is currently a founding partner of ViaNovo, a strategy consultancy. He has taught at the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and is also a visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

He is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community. His book, A New Way: Embracing the Paradox as We Lead and Serve, was released in 2017.