Is The Taylor Swifte Endorsement of Kamala Harris the Cultural Zenath for the 2024 Election?

 

With the 2024 Election Campaign coming at us like an astroid, the endorsement of Kamala Harris for president the night of the Trump - Harris debate has sparked the question of how much impact such an endorsement can have on a national campaign. 

We know per recent polling that the race is very tight.  We know that Swife has a whole army of fans out there. Not all are voting age, but even those who are not, in most cases have parents that have likely shelled out money for Taylor Swift tickets of merchandise and I think even these young swifties can play an influential role getting parents on board. 

Is there another celebrity that could offer as much star power out there?  What would it take for Trump to find a counter to Swift? Does it even make a difference. 

There are plenty of other  cultural influencers out there that have heave lesser fanfair to offer but still bring some unique quark to the campaign.  This election is unlike any I have ever witnessed. 

Recently Liz Cheney and her father the former Vice President, both Republicans icons historically, have announced that for the sake of the country, they will not support the Republican nominee but instead, vote for Kamala Harris. The day I saw this, I though hell had frozen over. Then on Friday, famous conservative columnist, baseball enthusiasts and author George Will did the same.  Again, it was a nod to the importance of saving our democracy from Trump as opposed to any more ideological position on issues.

If this election campaign is unorthodox for any reason, it is because the threat of our democratic republic is in so many people's view trumping other issues. No pun intended. 

How Much Difference If Any Will Taylor Swift Make?

Swift commands a significant following - as of Aug 7, 2024 — Taylor Swift – 550.5 million followers on all her social media platforms. Reuters reports that Taylor Swift's Harris endorsement drew 9 million 'likes.' 

The thing about Swift is she has a very positive image. Further, those that don't care for her are often a result of cultural issues they disagree with her on, and the general feeling she represents an opposition to Trump so they automatically don't care for her. 

The latter fact probably means that she is not going to likely caust Harris votes on these issues because they are already zoned in on those issues and were not going to vote for her anyway.

There is an ongoing number of new 18 year olds every day. This added youth vote offers a whole new pool of voters. They are likely influenced by many things including Taylor Swift. But additionally in the scheme of courtural war issues, they are more likely to lean Harris then Trump.  Harris has been making a plea to young people to register to vote, so that opens  a door to many 18 and older that were not registered. 

We won't likely know till after the election how much Harris may have been helped by this endorsement, and even then, it. will likely be speculative based on the turn out of  young people, even though her fan base is quite expansive in terms of age. I can personally attest to that. 

#culturalwars  #Haeeis. #Trump. #election2024. #TaylorSwift #endorsements