The November presidential election is only months away and the last several weeks has flipped the race on its head. Former President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt, President Joe Biden stepped down from the race and Vice President Kamala Harris is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Trump has been defending running mate JD Vance's controversial comments about childless cat ladies.
So, how is this affecting undecided and independent voters? These are the voters who don't align with either the Democratic or Republican parties but could vote either way or decide to vote third party.
In fact, more and more people consider themselves an independent voter, according to a January Gallup Survey, which found that 43% of Americans said they fall somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum.
While some of these voters are already decided on Kamala Harris, Trump or a third-party candidate, others are still undecided on who to vote for and see strengths and weaknesses with the candidates and their platforms.
To start Thursday's "Sound of Ideas," we've invited on a few independent and undecided voters in Northeast Ohio to find out what's important to them.
Later in the hour, out of the Reconstruction period in the post-Civil War era came the promise of "40 acres and a mule." Promised through Union General William T. Sherman's Special Field Orders in 1865, this plan was a form of reparations to give formerly enslaved people their own land to start new lives.
One common assumption is that no one ever received their 40 acres. But a new investigative series from Mother Jones, The Center for Public Integrity and the investigative podcast, Reveal, found that the federal government actually did issue hundreds, even thousands, of land titles to freed slaves.
But shortly after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his successor, Andrew Johnson, allowed this land to be given back to its previous plantation owners.
We'll talk about this investigation, that combed through tens of thousands of acres that were at the center of this 40 acres and a mule promise.
We'll talk to one of the journalists involved, and discuss the idea of generational wealth, and whether the repercussions of this loss for Black families is still being felt today.
Guests:
-Hannah Gates, Political science major, Cleveland State University
-Christopher Kendel, Retired, Former Assistant Commissioner, Parks and Recreation, City of Cleveland Heights
-Robert Shwab, Retired arbitrator
-April Simpson, Senior Reporter, Center for Public Integrity
