Taylor Swift’s influence could shape the US election

With global popularity and a large number of young fans, Taylor Swift is sought after by American politicians as a factor that can shape the 2024 presidential race.

Even before Taylor Swift was named Person of the Year by Time magazine, American politicians sought to win over Swifties, the young fans of the globally famous singer-songwriter.

How they reacted to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour showed that, according to Matt Harris, analyst for The Daily Progress.

The state of New Jersey has decided to change the name of the famous Taylor egg, cheese and ham sandwich to the Taylor Swift sandwich in honor of the 34-year-old singer. The mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, changed the city’s name to “Swiftburg” while she was on tour there.

These moves may make Taylor Swift’s fans happy, but the question is why American politicians want to do so and what benefits they can gain. Observers believe that the answer lies in her popularity and influence with a large number of fans.

Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in June. Photo: X/ Taylor Swift

Unlike many other celebrities, Taylor Swift is not heavily involved in politics. She has refrained from leveraging her popularity for politicians, except for supporting two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee, Phil Bresdesen, in the race for the US Senate and House of Representatives. Jim Cooper in the 2018 re-election campaign. Another person she voiced support for was Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The level of interest and searches for Bredesen on Google coincided with singer Taylor Swift’s support for him in October 2018. After Taylor Swift expressed support for Congressman Cooper’s vote for the Affordable Care Act in March 2020, the number of searches for his name on Google also skyrocketed.

The specific impact of Taylor Swift’s support on politicians is difficult to assess and inconsistent. A 2018 survey by Tennessee’s Emerson College found that 12% of people surveyed said the singer’s support would make them more likely to vote for Bredesen. However, this number could not make a difference in the race, because Bredesen lost by nearly 11 percentage points.

Meanwhile, Congressman Cooper was easily re-elected to represent the Nashville area, with the support of Taylor Swift.

However, in the increasingly divided American political and media landscape, everything the female singer does or does not do ahead of the 2024 presidential election can cause a wave of criticism or praise, according to gender. observe.

Surveys show that about 70% of Americans support Taylor Swift, a rate that any US president would like to achieve.

President Biden is no exception, especially as his approval rating recently dropped to 39%, the lowest of any American leader at this point in his presidency, according to the polling company check Gallup. This is the fifth time in 2023 that Mr. Biden’s support rate has dropped below 40%.

Kevin Monnin, an analyst with Hill, said that as the US presidential election is approaching, Taylor Swift with her large fan base and young voters can play an important role in helping determine the winner. race for the White House.

“Swift’s untapped political influence should not be underestimated,” Monnin said.

Taylor Swift has proven her ability to attract a large number of young fans, making them spare no expense for her items, concert tickets or albums. Observers say that in 2024, she can take advantage of this influence to pull them into political public opinion polls.

On November 7, Swift urged her 272 million followers to register to vote, leading to more than 35,000 people registering after she shared the link to the nonpartisan organization vote.org. The organization saw a 1,226% increase in traffic to their website following Swift’s post.

Swift’s fans are mainly young women, who came of age in America’s divisive political era, making up an important voting bloc for Democrats.

According to a recent Harvard poll, the percentage of Americans 18-29 years old who would “definitely” vote for a president fell from 57% in 2020 to 49%. This is the group of voters that Taylor Swift can influence and motivate to vote, according to observers.

“I don’t think things will work out in a way where people see Taylor Swift supporting Mr. Biden and ask them to vote for him too,” said Dr. Matthew Harris, professor of political science at Park University in Missouri State, said. “Here will be her ability to mobilize and encourage people to register to vote, including voters who tend to vote for Mr. Biden.”

US President Joe Biden during a press conference in the Rose Garden, White House on October 25. Photo: AFP

In an election with the candidate’s support rate expected to be extremely tight next year, Dr. Harris believes that young voters in the suburbs will be the “winning group” of American politicians. .

Although always tight-lipped, Taylor Swift seems to have implicitly shown her support for President Biden in the 2024 race, accepting his campaign to use the song Only The Young for a campaign ad in October.

But speaking at the amnesty ceremony for the two turkeys Liberty and Bell at the White House on November 20, President Biden, 81 years old, mistakenly called Taylor Swift with singer Britney Spears.

“To get here, Liberty and Bell turkeys overcame many competitors, made efforts and patience, and were willing to make a journey of more than 1,600 km,” he said. “You could say it was even more difficult to get tickets for Britney’s Renaissance tour. She’s now in warm Brazil.”

Observers believe that this misspoken incident will not affect the relationship between Mr. Biden and Taylor Swift, but for his appeal to American youth to have more weight, he will need to remember the singer’s name. Top famous in the country.