Politics and views in the United States.

VP hopeful Walz makes a fiery defense in Wisconsin, as his state's supreme court upholds a voting rights measure. Utah enacts a controversial book ban. A poll reveals doubts about democracy's future, and renewable energy funding could be at risk.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I don't need you telling me about our health care.

I don't need you telling us who we love.

And I sure the hell don't need you telling us what books we're going to read.

Vice presidential hopeful Governor Tim Walz pushing back against Republican attacks.

Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris are holding rallies across Wisconsin and Michigan, with Republican nominee J.D. Vance headlining counter-rallies in both states.

The Ohio senator is attacking the Democrats as extremists, while the Minnesota governor argues their positions on abortion, gay marriage and censorship are actually closer to the mainstream.

In an unusual hour-long press conference, former President Donald Trump confirmed an ABC debate with Harris in a month, and proposed additional debates on NBC and Fox.

Former Trump spokesman Anthony Scaramucci told MSNBC he thinks Trump is unraveling.

This is all him telling you that he's now frightened, he's now cornered, and he's very angry.

Meanwhile, Utah has enacted a ban on 13 books ordering works by Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood removed from public schools and libraries.

PEN America calls this the first statewide book ban.

But Corrine Johnson, president of Utah Parents United, supports the ban.

Children had access to this content without parental consent, and now those books are being removed so that our libraries are age-appropriate.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a law restoring voting rights to people with prison records.

The court focused on procedural issues rather than the substance of the 2023 legislation.

But state Attorney General Keith Ellison says he's glad the court is providing clarity for the nearly 60,000 newly eligible voters.

Watch what's going on in Florida.

You know, people there thought they had the right to vote, and the governor there ordered some of them be arrested, even though they thought and had a good faith basis to believe that they could vote.

A recent AP poll shows only a fifth of U.S. adults believe democracy will endure after the 2024 election.

Many are discouraged by the race between Harris and Trump, with another 20 percent saying democracy is too broken to matter.

Clean energy groups say they're concerned about what the election could mean for renewable projects.

Lisa Abel with the Yellow Springs Development Corporation says she's afraid even previously passed bipartisan funding agreements could be overturned.

If there were a new administration, those funds are definitely at risk.

Even though they were set up for a 10-year disbursement, anything can happen, anything can be canceled.

And finally, an Ohio proposal to change how the state draws legislative and congressional districts has raised a record $27 million.

This fall, Ohio voters will decide whether to keep the current lawmaker-run system or switch to a 15-member independent citizen redistricting commission.

The group backing the plan says it has raised the most ever for an Ohio ballot measure.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.