United States: Taylor Swift, an essential asset for the 2024 presidential election? (III)

(this is a follow up of a previous post)

And according to a survey published in early December by a Harvard institute, the number of young people surveyed “definitely” planning to vote for the next presidential election fell to 49%, compared to 57% in the fall of 2019.

"Mobilize"

The participation rate in general, and that of young people in particular, will be one of the keys to the next presidential election.

And for Matthew Harris, it is surely in this area that Taylor Swift could have the most impact.

“I don’t think people are like, ‘Oh! Taylor Swift supports Joe Biden, so I’m going to vote for him,’” he explains. The most important will be “his ability to mobilize people, to encourage them to register to vote”, because “these are people who are already predisposed to vote for Joe Biden”.

Especially since the "Swifties", the name given to the singer's fans, live mainly in residential suburbs, adds the political scientist, areas which "tip the American political balance".

Taylor Swift published a message on Instagram in September inviting her 272 million subscribers to use the Vote.org platform to register to vote.

Result? The organization recorded more than 35,000 new registrations that day, a jump of 23% compared to the same day a year earlier, and further proof of the singer's influence.

The superstar could also encourage mobilization through his positions, particularly on abortion.

When the Supreme Court annulled the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion in 2022, the artist said she was "terrified" that women's right to control their own bodies would be taken away from them, a fight that is close to Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's vice-president.

But for the latter to gain the singer's support, perhaps the president would no longer have to confuse her with Britney Spears, as he did in November...