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TAYLOR SWIFT’S HARRIS ENDORSEMENT HAS THRILLED FANS – BUT WILL IT
MOVE THE ELECTION NEEDLE?  
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Carter Sherman
September 11, 2024
The Guardian
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_ US Swifties who were waiting for their idol’s statement are
‘hopeful’ about its impact as Republicans criticize the move _

Taylor Swift performs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during her Eras
tour concert on 9 November 2023., Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko/AP

 

Addy Al-Saigh had already gone to bed on Tuesday night when her phone
woke her up with a notification: Taylor Swift
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Instagram.

The pop star had endorsed Kamala Harris
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Al-Saigh was thrilled.

“She has this impact on such a large amount of people that it is
super important that she uses her voice, which I’m so glad she
did,” said Al-Saigh, a 19-year-old college student who lives in
Virginia. “I am hopeful, definitely hopeful, that this will help
push voter registration and push more people to get out and speak up
and use their voice.”

Perhaps no celebrity endorsement has ever been as hotly anticipated as
Swift’s – and she delivered in Miss Americana style on
Tuesday, voicing her support
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Harris and Tim Walz
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the presidential debate
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Harris and Donald Trump
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“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can
accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not
chaos,” Swift wrote of Harris. “I was so heartened and impressed
by her selection of running mate Tim Walz,” who Swift tagged, “who
has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman’s right to
her own body for decades”.

The question on many minds is: does it matter? Although it’s
difficult to measure the impact of celebrity endorsements, they can
move the needle in elections, especially by energizing voters who may
otherwise sit on the sidelines. After Swift encouraged her fans to
vote in 2023, Vote.org recorded more than 35,000 registrations
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a single day. Al-Saigh first registered to vote because Swift had
posted a voter registration link in her Instagram Stories.

In January, polling conducted for Newsweek
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that 18% of voters say they are “more likely” or “significantly
more likely” to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, while 17% say
they are less likely. Swift’s endorsement is likely to hold
particular sway among Americans under 35, since about 30% of that
group say they are more likely to vote for someone Swift supports.
More than half of Swift’s most avid fans already identify as
Democrats, a 2023 Morning Consult poll found
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The other half of her fanbase is split evenly between Republicans and
independents.

Swifties for Kamala, which is working to mobilize fans of Swift
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has raised more than $150,000 for the Harris campaign, celebrated the
endorsement. “We knew she would speak when the time was right and
are so excited to keep up the fight,” Irene Kim, the
organization’s co-founder and executive director, said in a
statement. “Swifties are a diverse group – it’s what strengthens
our connections to one another and shapes our shared values.”

Trump, meanwhile, dismissed Swift’s endorsement. “She’ll
probably pay a price for it in the marketplace,” he said Wednesday
on Fox & Friends. Matt Gaetz, the Republican congressman from Florida,
said that although he liked Swift’s music
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he wanted “to live in a world where liberals make my art and
conservatives make my laws”.

Jasmine Amussen, a 35-year-old Democrat in the swing state of Georgia
who previously responded to a Guardian survey about Swift’s
political power
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was particularly struck by the musician’s mention of how Trump had
used AI-generated images
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the pop star to falsely suggest that Swift had endorsed him.

“It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of
spreading misinformation,” Swift wrote in her Instagram post.

“I think young people, especially young women, are, like, really
grossed out and horrified by things like that,” said Amussen, who
said her vote was not personally affected by Swift’s endorsement.
“For people who have spent their whole life online and who have
experienced a lot of really negative things about being online, like
revenge porn and the Nudify websites and things like that, I think it
really meant something that she said it like that.”

Swift signed off her endorsement as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat
Lady” – a reference to comments by Trump’s running mate, JD
Vance [[link removed]], denigrating
women who do not have children. Shortly afterward, Elon Musk
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responded with a tweet that drew widespread condemnation
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“Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your
cats with my life,” Musk tweeted.

“I found it disgusting,” Jared Quigg, a 22-year-old Swift fan in
Indiana, said of Musk’s post. “I despise that man.”

Still, Quigg doesn’t think that Swift’s post will motivate many
voters. “If she were to speak up on specific issues, I think that
would move the needle on things. But as far as her endorsement, she
didn’t really delve too much into issues,” said Quigg, who plans
to vote for Harris even though he doesn’t “really like her much at
all”.

“Now, if she were to speak up about fracking or Palestine, issues
that might be considered more important to progressives, perhaps that
could have an impact on the party”, Quigg added.

Al-Saigh, for her part, wants to get her Virginia college’s Swift
fan club to do work around the election, such as helping register
people to vote, now that the musician has made her views clear.

“Taylor Swift is such a global sensation that if she cares about
something, it’s important,” Al-Saigh said. “That’s the way I
feel, and that’s the way I think a lot of other people feel too.”

_Carter Sherman is a reproductive health and justice reporter at
Guardian US_

* Taylor Swift
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* Harris Endorsement
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* Electoral Politics
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* impact
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