VOTING BECAUSE TAYLOR SWIFT SAID SO?
It is unclear how influential Swift is when it comes to shifting the political needle. On one hand, the morale boost of her endorsement is undeniable.
Nonetheless, a national poll by Suffolk University in May found that a Taylor Swift endorsement would not influence the vote choice of most respondents. The fact that Phil Bredesen lost his 2018 Senate campaign also points to the limits of her ability to influence election results.
Yet, even if she cannot change the minds of polarised voters, she could convince her young, generally liberal fans to register to vote. When Swift urged her fans to register to vote early in 2018, 65,000 people answered her call within 24 hours. About 35,000 people registered following a similar plea in 2023.
This year, she used both her Harris endorsement post and her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards to encourage all her eligible fans to vote in November. Observers are already reporting a 400 to 500 per cent increase in voter registration since her announcement, or between 9,000 to 10,000 people per hour. If she takes bolder steps, such as urging her fans to get their parents to vote for Harris, the effect might be even more pronounced.
Swift’s endorsement might not guarantee Harris’ victory, especially given how fickle youth voter turnout can be. However, in a race that is expected to be decided by less than 50,000 votes across a handful of crucial swing states, every vote counts. The possibility of a handful of motivated, liberal first-time voters is too important to just shake it off.
Kevin Chen is an Associate Research Fellow with the US Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
Source: CNA
