It's not much difference when it comes to politics which is, after all, nothing more than a popularity contest that much different from the ones you had in Junior high school when running for school council or class president, talent contests, or the glitzy high budgeted "Miss America". pageant. Always with the contestants trying to be everything to everyone while promising the moon. The only real difference is that with political races the outcomes are actually matter.
These celebrities (which includes athletes, television and radio "personalities" and entertainers) are often treated as a sort of royalty, as if their opinions were somehow gospel. They get asked by the media about world affairs, the economy, national policy, and so forth as if they're are experts. Now, why everyone is entitled to an opinion, the majority of these folks known little and the topics they're speaking. They tend to exist in a make believe world, which may be why they also tend to be highly liberal. It's only in a highly liberal world that they are allowed to fully express themselves.
When it comes to performers and politics, endorsing candidates is nothing new. The famous Al Jolson endorsed the Republican Warren G. Harding for President in 1927 (including writing and performing a song for the campaign at campaign stops). The "Chairman of the Board", Frank Sentara, joined with Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth, Orson Wells, and other notables endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt of President, including holding several fundraisers.
Meanwhile, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby backed Thomas E. Dewey. Sammy Davis Jr and football legend, Jim Brown, Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, and "The King", Elvis Presley, were Nixon supporters while "Babs" (aka Barbara Streisand) openly helped both Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Following the recent debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on September 11th, Swift issued a statement (signed "Childless Cat Lady") via the social media platform, Instagram, to her approximately 283 million Instagram followers announcing her support for Harris. Nevertheless, following Swift's Instagram post, musical legend Stevie Nicks, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, and "Lil Nas X" (aka Montero Lamar Hill) all followed suit.
This apparently resulted in some 406,000 individuals visiting the Votegov.com site to register to vote (presumably Democrat and again, presumably for Harris). Many of these are part of the new wave voters comprised of Millennials, Gen Y, which will eventually replace Gen X and Babyboomers.
Somewhat amusingly, the former president responded that he hated Taylor Swift (presumably referring to Swift's music) and add that he liked "Mrs. (Brittney) Mahomes better" Mahomes is a former professional soccer player and co-owner the Kansas City Current soccer team. As a side note, I have to admit that I'm not a fan of Swift or Pop music in general). Brittney is also married to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Ironically, Mahomes came out in support of Taylor Swift shortly after his comment.
What kind of impact could Taylor Swift potentially have in the election? A recent survey by Statista indicated that 22.56% of adults identified themselves as fans of the performer (they self-identify as "Swifties"). Digging further into the demographics of her fanbase, we find that 41% of her fans are between ages 18 and 24, making them members of Gen Z. If that age bracket is expanded to age 34, then we find that the personage of fans jumps to 78% (the difference is comprised mostly of males).
Looking at gender, 61.5% of "Swifties" are female. As an aside, the data shows that the older the age bracket (up to age 44), the more likely the fanbase will be comprised of males. Over the last 12 months, Swift has seen a growth in her overall fanbase of 25% on Instagram and 75% on TikTok. Swift is seen as the quintessential social media super star.
On YouTube, she as 50.3 million followers. On Facebook and Twitter (aka "X") it's 76.9 and 92 million respectively. Instagram shows 232.9 million fans. TikTok show her having 92 million followers while Soundcloud has 428,500. There are 62.5 million followers on Spotify. Deezer has 9.4 million "Swifties".
By comparison, former Beatle and musical legend, Paul McCarthy, has "just" 4.5 million on Instagram. Black Sabbath front man and bat connoisseur, Ozzy Osborne has 75.8 million follower on TikTok. Rock masters, Queen has only 3.3 million on TikTok. On Twitter/X, Led Zeppelin reaches 721.2,000. Lastly, the greatest band of all time, The Beatles, have 8.5 million fans on YouTube.
So, if we go by the what we see here, Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris could have a serious impact on the outcome of the race. Celebrity endorsement can give a candidate access to an entire base of potential voters they may otherwise not have access to. They also raise the prospects of more financial donations coming into the coffers.
However, celebrity endorsements are a double edge sword. Not everyone likes a given celebrity or their opinion for whatever reason. As such, their endorsement may bring out that "anti-celebrity" crowd, and with it, their vote and possible donations. Secondly, many voters see celebrity endorsements as nothing more than an attempt to bring attention to themselves, especially if their career is sagging or passé (such as can be said of Roseanne Barr or Kathy Griffin). Media endorsements can be seen as just as useless since they tend to promote their own agendas, which rarely benefits the people.
Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris, the Vice President with the longest and worst approval rating in U.S. history, has breathed new life in her campaign. It has also diverted attention from the particulars of the race to the sideshow. Untimely, how much will it impact the race? I guess we'll know in just two months. Hopefully, however, the American People will stay focused on the issues and not on the circus performers.
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