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

Pop superstar, youth idol, and soon-to-be campaign icon? The influence of singer Taylor Swift is at the heart of all the desires for the 2024 American presidential election.

The 34-year-old artist, personality of the year according to Time magazine, is at the top of his art, breaking absolutely all records.

One example among many: his “Eras Tour” exceeded the symbolic threshold of a billion dollars in revenue over 60 dates in 2023 – an amount never seen before in the history of music.

Hailing from the rural state of Tennessee, Taylor Swift began her journey in country music, a genre particularly beloved by conservatives.

According to a poll published Tuesday by the Marist Institute, the artist behind hits like "Shake It Off" and "Bad Blood" is credited with 70% favorable opinions among Americans.

A figure that Joe Biden, for whom she voted in 2020, can only dream of for himself: the Democrat's popularity rating, in decline since the start of his mandate, now stands at just under 40%. favorable opinions according to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Could Taylor Swift revive Joe Biden by calling to support him in 2024? The presidential candidate's campaign team is sure of it.

“Thank you for not telling us that we need a Taylor Swift strategy. We are following the file,” joked an executive from Biden’s team on Wednesday, sharing a job description for the campaign.

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What Taylor Swift means to her fans

ive “Swifties” (die-hard fans of the pop star explain) what the icon, whose words could count in the November presidential election, means to them.

“Therapist”

Searle Lira, 33, became a fan of Taylor Swift in high school with the song Teardrops on My Guitar (2006). It helped her overcome her own heartbreak. “I have the impression that she’s the girls’ free therapist,” notes this independent journalist from the Philippines. “For every thing girls go through, you can find a Taylor Swift song to relate to. »

“Love me as you should”

Lauren Fang, 23, first listened to Taylor Swift while she was in the hospital for treatment for lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease. A human resources specialist in Taiwan, she was 18 at the time and says her idol's songs helped her recover. His favorite song? Back to December (2010), which evokes the regrets of having left someone. She transformed the words to relate them to herself: “If I can live again, I swear that I will love myself as I should. » “The song taught me that if I can rebuild my life, I will live my own life correctly,” she adds.

“Humble and kind”

Sarah Lui, 21, discovered Taylor Swift in elementary school and has never stopped listening to her since then. “I will always be a Swiftie even if I become a lawyer,” maintains the young woman, who is completing a cycle in criminology in Hong Kong and is going to study law. What she admires most about the singer is her “kindness”. “She was so good to her team, her fans and everyone. “She’s humble and kind, that’s how everyone should be,” she explains. “She’s a superstar, but she’s never been arrogant because of her fame. She uses her fame to do good. »

“She’s not afraid of anything”

Mona He got her first smartphone at the age of 15 and the first song she downloaded was You Belong With Me (2008). Now aged 24, she confides that attending the singer's concert has been her dream for nine years. “I admire her because she is not afraid of anything,” confides the young woman who runs a company in China. “Even though she has enemies, she never, ever gives up. »

" Be yourself ! »

What Renzo Gonzales, 26, likes is Swift's message that people should be themselves. “It doesn’t matter if you face a lot of uncertainty, you just have to be who you are and be happy,” says Renzo Gonzales, originally from the Philippines and working on an oil tanker. Taylor Swift became her role model because “you don’t have to be like what everyone tells you to be, you can be yourself.” His favorite song: Daylight (2019) because it taught him that “love can be a rainbow”.

Can Taylor Swift have an impact on the US Presidential Elections?(III)

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4. Donald Trump is worried

On February 11, the Republican candidate mentioned Taylor Swift on his own social network, Truth. With the verve of which he has the secret, the former American president practically demanded the support of the singer, with an aplomb which seems to betray a lack of serenity:

“I signed and initiated the Music Modernization Act, which benefits Taylor Swift and every other musical artist,” he wrote. “Joe Biden has never done anything for Taylor, and he will never do anything for her.”

“There is no way she supports this crook Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country, and is thus disloyal to the man who allowed her to make so much money ", he continued. “Besides, I like her boyfriend, Travis (Kelce, American football star, Editor’s note), even if he’s a liberal who probably hates me!”

A message which is undoubtedly not unrelated to Taylor Swift's violent criticism of the Republican candidate. In 2020, the singer supported Joe Biden's candidacy by vilifying Donald Trump on Twitter:

“You have fanned the flames of white supremacism and racism throughout your mandate,” she wrote to the man who was then president. “We will vote you out in November.”

5. Conspiracy theorists see her as a threat

Another sign that Taylor Swift will be at the heart of the 2024 presidential election: the panic of conspiracy circles towards her, who see in her a pawn of the Pentagon to get Joe Biden re-elected.

Jesse Watters, presenter of the favorite channel of American conservatives, Fox News, took up these wild theories in early January, first published on social networks by right-wing commentators, insinuating that the superstar would work for the government of the outgoing president.

“Not only is Swift, by her OWN ADMISSION, a satanic witch, she is also a TOOL OF THE PENTAGON to influence the vote of THOUSANDS of young voters,” an account promoting QAnon conspiracy theories about X recently posted.

In addition, some voices have been raised to suggest that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce would form a couple created from scratch with the sole aim of influencing public opinion in favor of Joe Biden. Notably that of Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate who withdrew from the race in the Republican primary in favor of Donald Trump; At the end of January, he pointed the finger at X (ex-Twitter) "a couple artificially supported by culture" which, according to him, will reveal "major presidential support".

If the United States seems to have acquired the idea that the American presidential election will not be held without Taylor Swift, the European Union is starting to take notes. In January, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas expressed his hope that the superstar would mobilize young voters for the European elections in June.

Can Taylor Swift have an impact on the US Presidential Elections?(II)

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2. Young people, the nerve of the electoral war

Last September, Taylor Swift repeated the feat by once again calling on her audience to register to vote. This time, more than 35,000 Americans registered in the space of one day on Vote.org. Above all, the platform observed a 115% jump in registrations of 18-year-old voters compared to the previous year. And it is precisely with this demographic that the interpreter of Style perhaps has a role to play.

As USA Today noted a few months ago, the youth vote is synonymous with concern across the Atlantic: only 48% of those aged 18-29 went to the polls during the 2020 presidential election, compared to 73% of those aged 65- 74 years old.

“The younger generation is starting to realize that what they care about is intrinsically linked to turnout,” said Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org. “When someone generates 30,000 registrations at once, there can be an impact, absolutely.”

For Thierry Arnaud, political columnist for BFMTV, "this election will be played out in a small handful of states, as usual. These are what we call swing states, where the results are close (...) each time, it comes down to a few tens of thousands of votes; mobilization will be the key, especially among young people. Traditionally, they vote less than others but when they do, they mostly vote Democratic. It is in this I feel like Taylor Swift will make them lean, and that's why her role could be decisive."

3. 18% of voters say they are ready to follow her

And in fact, young people seem particularly inclined to follow Taylor Swift's voting instructions. This is what a Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey conducted for Newsweek revealed last January.

Among those under 35, about three in ten Americans say they are more likely to vote for a candidate supported by the singer. Out of the overall population, 18% of American voters say they are more likely or much more likely to do the same.

This last figure must be put into perspective; because conversely, 17% of voters surveyed say they are less likely to vote for a candidate supported by the singer, who is as popular as she is divisive

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Can Taylor Swift have an impact on the US Presidential Elections ? (I)

The potential influence of Taylor Swift in the outcome of the election is the subject of many comments across the United States. Because the singer has already demonstrated an unsuspected political strength.

Decisive moment in the American presidential campaign. It is this Tuesday that the traditional Super Tuesday takes place, a day during which the Democratic and Republican primaries in no less than 15 states will take place. If the candidates from both camps will be determined on their fate in their race for the White House at the end of this election, there is another stage of their campaign that they are feverishly awaiting: the day when Taylor Swift, the superstar of pop, will give his voting instructions.

As surprising as it may seem, the singer's name has been on the lips of all observers for months. Most present the star as an asset to Joe Biden, whom she supported in 2020 and who is running for re-election. Conversely, she would be a stone in the shoe of Donald Tump, who is trying to regain power after his failure in 2020. The main interested party, for the moment, is not saying a word.

Because in addition to her four years spent at the top of world record sales, her title of personality of the year 2023 awarded by Time (a first for an artist) or her phenomenon tour, the Eras Tour, on the way to becoming the most lucrative story, everything suggests that Taylor Swift could influence the American vote. 

1. 2018: Taylor Swift triggers her first political earthquake

Stubbornly silent on political-societal issues since the start of her career, the superstar surprised her fans in October 2018 by breaking her silence. During the mid-term elections, and while Donald Trump occupies the Oval Office, Taylor Swift posted a long message on Instagram to vigorously criticize Marsha Blackburn, Republican candidate from Tennessee for a position in the Senate.

A voter in this southeastern state, Taylor Swift takes the opportunity to show her support for Democratic candidates, embraces her progressive sensibilities for the first time and, above all, calls on her fans to register to vote. And if Marsha Blackburn ended up winning, Taylor Swift revealed during this period a hitherto unsuspected strike force.

72 hours after the publication of the message on Instagram, the Vote.org site announced that it had recorded 250,000 new registrations on the lists, 60% of which were young people aged 18 to 29. That is more in three days than throughout the month of August (57,000 registrations) and the entire month of September (190,000), as reported by Reuters. This speech then resonates even in the corridors of the White House; Donald Trump himself weighs in, saying he likes "Taylor's music about 25% less now."

At the time, Taylor Swift had 112 million followers on Instagram. Today there are 282 million.

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Can Taylor Swift Become the Master of the World? (I)

Through her call to vote for Biden or Trump, can Taylor Swift rock the world order? Has she become the true master of the world?

This question makes me courious to try a word game in English:

“Can the country be saved or doomed by the country star?”

A legitimate question if ever our tailor is quick to react to political news (this one is in French based on "my Taylor is Swift").

Indeed, the tall pole native of Reading - 1m80 - in addition to knowing how to read, is a mega-star there who, at the age of Christ, had already broken many records:

Taylor Swift female artist with the most number 1 albums in sales in the USA

One in fifteen vinyls sold in the United States in 2023 was by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's music is listened to more in the United States than the jazz and classical genres combined. So, of course, it does not walk on water but on the record industry, does not multiply the rolls but the downloads, an important fact in this all-digital world.

So, Can Taylor Swift Become the Master of the World? 
See my answer in the next post

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