Singer Taylor Swift can use her influence to help Mr. Biden in the 2024 re-election race, by calling on fans – who lean slightly towards the Democratic side – to vote.
With her historic Eras Tour, her budding romance with football superstar Travis Kelce, and more, singer Taylor Swift dominated American pop culture in 2023. .
But in addition to its cultural and economic impact, the name Taylor Swift also holds great potential in American politics. As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, Swift could be the push to help President Joe Biden get re-elected and end the political career of former President Donald Trump.
Singer Taylor Swift on the first night of her Eras Tours tour earlier this year (Photo: AFP/Getty).
Taylor Swift’s great influence
Hardly anyone can deny that Taylor Swift is a highly influential figure in America this year.
Each city visited by the female singer received a small economic boost. According to estimates from AskPro Research , Swifties – the word for Taylor Swift’s fans – will spend about 93 million USD/per show. By the end of the tour, this number will reach $5.7 billion.
“If Taylor Swift were an economy, she would be bigger than 50 countries,” said Dan Fleetwood, President of AskPro Research.
That was even before Swift released the concert film of her historic tour. This film has so far grossed $250 million globally and is still showing in hundreds of theaters more than 2 months after its release.
In addition to the economic impact, the cultural impact of Taylor Swift’s name can be equally great. In the US, there are currently 10 university courses on the singer’s works, career and impact, including one at Harvard.
After Taylor Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce, the number of television viewers for this team’s matches increased significantly.
More than 50% of Americans consider themselves Taylor Swift fans, according to MSNBC . In a recent NBC News poll , the singer had a higher favorability rating than anyone else on the same list as Mr. Biden, former President Trump and every other major American political figure. .
In naming her Person of the Year, Time magazine called Swift “a modern-day master storyteller”.
Taylor Swift once tiptoed into politics
According to MSNBC writer Michael Cohen, Swift clearly shows her leaning towards the Democratic Party.
In 2018, she publicly supported two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee, Congressman Jim Cooper and former Governor Phil Bredesen.
Of course, support from Taylor Swift is not the main factor influencing voters’ opinions. Also in the 2018 election, Mr. Cooper was easily re-elected in an area that had long supported him, while Mr. Bredesen lost to his Republican opponent.
Since 2018, Taylor Swift has not been too shy to speak out about political issues. In October 2020, she spoke out in support of Mr. Biden – who defeated Mr. Trump that year.
Mr. Biden at a re-election campaign event this year (Photo: New York Times).
What’s interesting is that even when American politics is deeply polarized, Swift’s endorsement of the Democratic party has not diminished her star status among Republican fans.
Specifically, according to NBC ‘s poll , the number of Republicans who sympathize with Taylor Swift is larger than the unsympathetic group, although the difference is only narrow.
However, the Republican Party is not Swift’s main target if the singer decides to speak out in the race for the White House in 2024.
Taylor Swift’s fans lean slightly Democratic
American political observers only need to look at Taylor Swift’s fan base to see the singer’s potential influence.
Fifty-five percent of Swifties identify themselves as Democrats, more than half live in the suburbs, and nearly three-quarters are white, according to MSNBC . And most importantly, nearly half of Swifties belong to the millennial generation (people born in the early 1980s to the late 1990s), while this is a difficult group of voters for Mr. Biden.
So, for a candidate who needs votes from young women and suburban women like Mr. Biden, who could be a better spokesperson than Taylor Swift?
A recent Harvard poll said that the proportion of Americans in the 18-29 year old group who “definitely” intend to vote for president has decreased from 57% to 49%, compared to the survey at that time. this point in the 2020 election cycle.
This is an aspect where Taylor Swift can take advantage of her influence, according to AFP .
“I don’t think this means that when people see Taylor Swift endorse Joe Biden, they’re going to think ‘I’ll vote for him too,'” said Dr. Matthew Harris, Professor of political science at Park University, told AFP .
Instead, “it speaks to Swift’s ability to summon and encourage people to register to vote,” Mr. Harris added, noting that “these people may already be predisposed or more likely to vote.” will vote for Joe Biden”.
Just this September, an Instagram post from Taylor Swift’s 272 million followers about the importance of registering to vote caused a 1,226% spike in registrations on the nonpartisan website Vote.org. , according to NPR .
In 2020, Mr. Biden won the states of Arizona and Georgia by about 11,000 voters, as well as won Wisconsin by 20,000 votes. Those numbers show that, while Taylor Swift’s call to get out the vote may have impacted only a fraction of her millions of fans, that would still be tens of thousands of people who would otherwise be sitting at home.
Those votes could make a decisive difference in battleground states in the 2024 election.
