Will Harris’s endorsement by Taylor Swift have an impact on the US election?

Global music sensation Taylor Swift’s backing of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris may have increased the candidate’s prospects of drawing in younger people, but the question still stands: Will the celebrity endorsement matter on election day?

In a closely contested battle for the presidency, Harris and her opponent, Republican former president Donald Trump, are making every effort to win over voters on Election Day, November 5, as well as during early voting, which begins the following week.

Swift’s Tuesday night support of Harris was rejected by Trump, who claimed he was “not a Taylor fan.”

In a nation where the voting age is eighteen, young people’s voter registration rates are low, therefore persuading them to register to vote at all may be the first obstacle for any campaign.

In 2020, the election of Democratic President Joe Biden over the then-incumbent Trump was largely determined by young voters. According to Tufts University research, Biden received almost 61% of the vote among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, compared to 36% for Trump.

According to a July 2024 analysis conducted by CIRCLE, a young civic engagement group at Tufts University, voter registration among individuals aged 18 to 29 has decreased significantly in 36 states since that time. On July 21, Harris announced her candidacy following Biden’s withdrawal.

According to the research, “registering youths remains a major task in the months ahead.”

Here comes Swift, a performer so popular that on Wednesday night at the MTV Video Music honors, she surpassed hip-hop icon Beyonce’s record of 30 career honors. According to a 2023 Morning Consult survey, 45% of millennials between the ages of 28 and 43 and 55% of Democrats identified as Swift followers.

Swift posted on Tuesday to her 284 million Instagram followers, encouraging people to register to vote and make their own decision. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift said.

The post received 10.4 million “likes.” A U.S. government spokesman stated that in the 24 hours following Swift’s sharing of a unique URL with followers, the vote.gov website saw 405,999 visits.

Swift might actively campaign by attending a rally in her home state of Pennsylvania, which is a battleground state that could very well decide the election, according to Harris aides.

But Swift’s decision to support Harris had nothing to do with the campaign itself.

The vice president’s advisers claimed they were unaware of Swift’s backing until the 34-year-old singer shared it on Instagram shortly after the vice president left the Philadelphia debate stage on Tuesday night.

AN INDUCTION QUESTION Does a celebrity’s endorsement really make a difference?

Barack Obama’s vote total increased by one million thanks to Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement, according to a 2008 Northwestern University study.

However, a 2010 North Carolina State University study discovered that celebrity endorsements like Angelina Jolie and George Clooney had minimal effect on politics.

Professor Margaretha Bentley of Arizona State University, whose class examines Swift’s societal significance, is doubtful about the pop singer’s potential influence. Earlier in the year, she questioned her students about the significance of a Swift endorsement.

While some stated they would follow Swift’s example, others claimed it would inspire them to conduct additional research. “A few students informed me that they follow celebrities more for advice on what kind of coffee to drink than for political advice,” Bentley stated.

Morgan Paris, a Swift admirer, commented, “It’s good that she said what she feels,” during the VMA awards on Wednesday. Furthermore, it seems to me that her music and politics are two quite different things that are difficult to merge.”

In a report released by Harvard’s Kennedy School last month, Ashley Spillane noted that non-profit organizations discovered “higher rates of online voter registration or poll worker sign-ups when a celebrity promotes these calls to action.”

“While some polling shows that people claim they aren’t influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful,” Spillane stated.

HARRIS’S ACTION THROUGH SWIFT

Building on the endorsement, the Harris campaign and its backers have announced pre-orders for their newest campaign wear: friendship bracelets inspired by Swift fans.

Swift T-shirts are being sold by the progressive organization MoveOn.org in conjunction with her current Eras concert tour. According to publicist Britt Jacovich, the “In My Voting Era” t-shirt is the item that the organization has sold the fastest so far this year.

In an effort to increase the number of young voters, Voters of Tomorrow and the unofficial group “Swifties for Harris” will collaborate on a phone bank this Saturday with the goal of reaching college students in Georgia and Wisconsin—two battleground states similar to Pennsylvania.

Swift “is one of the most influential people of our generation, and we’re definitely excited to see how we can take her message and turn that into more political action and get more people involved,” stated Jessica Siles, a Voters of Tomorrow representative.