The Swifties Have Activated for Kamala Harris
Your move, Taylor
As soon as President Biden announced that he would not seek reelection and was endorsing Kamala Harris instead, a marvelous thing happened in a small corner of the internet: The Swifties activated and organized to support the woman who will be the first female president of the United States.
I’m a Swiftie. I love Taylor Swift. I love the music. I love dissecting her outfits, songs, and public appearances like other people love scrutinizing their favorite sports team. I love the community her music provides because my friends like to talk about the same things I do. It’s fun! You know what else I love? Bodily autonomy! Having elected officials that aren’t convicted, sexual predators! A President who believes in basic universal dignity to everyone! Turns out, I’m not alone in that, and many, many other Swifties do, too!
No one can deny the sheer power Swift has over the world right now, and I’m not just talking about breaking records with her ongoing tour. She posted once on Instagram last September asking her followers to register to vote, and wouldn’t you know it, voter registrations had the largest single-day count since 2020. I’m hoping that Harris’ team is having talks with Swift’s right now, to get her to publicly endorse Harris, as well as (dare we dream) campaign for her. That’s not just fandom talking, friends. (Although it would take steps to right the glaring omission of Swift’s failure to endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016, as Swift didn’t say anything overtly political publicly until 2018, but I digress.) Swift has shown that she can get her followers to engage with the American political system, and when everything is on the line like it is right now, we need all the help we can get.
Apparently, I’m not the only Swfitie who feels that way, because within 24 hours of Harris getting Biden’s endorsement, the Swifties4Harris X (formerly Twitter) account gained more than 20,000 followers. Its current count is over 39,000 and growing across multiple social media platforms.
Tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans have come together with a common goal, and it’s not clowning for reputation TV. Her music, and let’s be honest, brand, has somehow bridged the gap between entertainment and politics and spurred thousands of people to organize in a way they haven’t before. I’m blown away, frankly, and hopeful for Harris’ campaign. They’re having fun with it, too:
What I love most about the Swifties activating for Harris is that it feels hopeful. When was the last time you felt that way about the American political system? We were denied this important milestone in 2016 by the worst possible person imaginable, and now, we’re getting a chance to right this wrong, albeit with higher stakes. (Hillary Clinton warned us what type of man, and president, Trump would be, and she was right. Now he wants back in, with an even more horrific agenda in Project 2025. ) Frankly, if I allow myself to dream a bit, the idea that Trump would lose to a woman this time around seems too delicious.
The 2024 presidential election is all hands on deck and we all need to work together to ensure that Kamala Harris is the next President of the United States. Harris has already gotten a massive Beyoncé bump and Charli XCX has made the VP an official part of Brat Summer. I’m just glad that some of Swift’s soldiers are also coming ready with friendship bracelets at the ready and a fixation on the number thirteen. Let’s do this, Swifties!
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