Simon Conway, one of most influential voices in Iowa talk radio, missed an opportunity June 24 to press Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on his support for the Duggar family in the wake of its child molestation scandal -- something he promised to do just two weeks ago. On his June 25 show, Conway had another opportunity to press a GOP candidate on a divisive issue -- this time, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has defended the right of states to fly the Confederate battle flag, which Conway has equated with Nazi imagery. He again failed to do so.

On his June 4 show, Conway responded to Mike Huckabee's public vow to stand by and continue to support, and receive support from, the Duggar family despite the revelation that Jim Bob Dugger covered up his son Josh's molestation of several children. Conway initially posited that part of the reason Huckabee wouldn't come on his show was because he knew Conway would bring it up, and he vowed that the next time he interviewed Huckabee, he would, promising, “This is not something I want to see swept under the carpet.”

Conway had that chance on his June 24 show, but despite having Huckabee on for three full segments - almost the entire first hour of his show -- Conway did not press him on the Duggar controversy.

Conway, who is Jewish, applauded South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's decision to pull down the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds on his June 22 show, saying that flying the “stars and bars” at a state capitol is “as abhorrent” as “a swastika flying above our statehouse here in Iowa.”

On June 24, Cruz, who has said he understands that some people see the flag as a racist symbol, doubled down on his opinion that the flag's placement is a states' rights issue, and criticized those who “parachute into South Carolina and dictate what they should do.” He has also stood by his South Carolina campaign co-chairs, who compared calls to take the flag down to a “Stalinist purge.”

In addition, other prominent members of Cruz's circle, such as Houston-based radio host and longtime Cruz friend Michael Berry, who introduced Cruz after he won his 2012 Senate election, have stanchly defended the flag. Berry said it merely reflects the state's “heritage” and equated it to the Koran, asking why, after a Muslim commits a terrorist attack, there are no calls to ban Islam's holy book.

However, as with Huckabee, Conway again failed to address an issue on which he disagrees with a 2016 GOP candidate - this time, failing to press Cruz about his views on the Confederate flag and those of his allies who staunchly defend it.

Given Conway's supposed status as a "political gatekeeper," it's hard not to wonder if he'll ever do more than just interview Republican candidates, and actually debate them on their beliefs.