Will Taylor Swift’s Endorsement Of Kamala Harris Matter?

Donald Trump had a really bad night on September 10th.

First he bombed in the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Then, immediately after the debate’s conclusion, Taylor Swift, the world’s most popular pop star, endorsed Ms. Harris and also took a pot shot at JD Vance, the former president’s running mate.

Normally, history shows that endorsements by show biz folks don’t move the needle. But in Ms. Swift case, it might because so many of her devoted fans, known as Swifties, registered to vote when she asked them to do so last year and this year.

Using a football term, which Ms. Swift might know from her dating Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, the Swift endorsement can be termed “piling on.”

That’s because Ms. Swift’s endorsement came shortly after GOP heavies Dick Chaney, the former vice president under George Bush, and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Chaney, said that they would vote for Ms. Harris because Trump is a danger to democracy Add to that, that former president George Bush said he would not endorse a presidential candidate this year, breaking from his record of endorsing Republican presidential candidates in the past, and that many other Republican officials have abandoned the former president cannot make Mr. Trump feel loved.

The “piling” on by celebrities who appeal to young people of voting age continued on September 11, when, Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, seemingly endorsed Ms. Harris without saying so. The basketball superstar said, “I have this amazing platform, so I think the biggest thing would be to just encourage people to register to vote. That’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have and that’s the same thing Taylor did.” Ms. Swift’s endorsement resulted in 400,000 people visiting the Vote.gov website in 24 hours. (I’m willing to bet a few acres of my 500,000 acre farm that in the near future other entertainers who appeal to young voters will soon endorse Ms. Harris, and I’m willing to throw in a half dozen Angus or Guernsey’s.)

Mr. Trump’s response to the family Chaney’s endorsement of Ms. Harris was right out of the Trump playbook -- counterattacking with lies. In a post to Truth Social, his social media website, he wrote "Dick Cheney is an irrelevant RINO Republican in Name Only, nonconforming to party ideals. along with his daughter, who lost by the largest margin in the History of Congressional Races!"

His response to Ms. Taylor’s endorsement of Ms. Harris might unleash the wrath of Swifties on Mr. Trump. On Sunday (15) he said on Truth Social, “I hate Taylor Swift.” Earlier in the week he said that the superstar would lose popularity and damage her brand, but music industry analysts said these day it can be an advantage, not a disadvantage, when a performer  make their values known.

The endorsement of Kamala Harris by the conservstive Cheneys, and the non- endorsement of Mr. Trump by former President Bush provide the green light for other conservatives to vote for Ms. Harris.

On July 9th, on this website, I wrote a column titled, “Taylor Swift Is The Possible Democrats Savior Who Frightens Donald Trump.”

It read, in part, “The possibility of Ms. Swift endorsing President Biden has so frightened Donald Trump and his MAGA allies that on Jan. 30, Rolling Stone, the “monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture,” reported that Mr. Trump has been in discussions with Republican and conservative media figures in recent months about the prospect of Swift endorsing Mr. Biden.”

The article continued, “Donald Trump and the Republicans are so terrified that thousands of Swifties might vote for Joe Biden and provide the margin of victory for the president that they’ve been attacking Taylor Swift as if she controls her fans minds, when it’s the former twice-impeached and criminally-convicted Trump who obviously controls MAGA minds. What 

Mr. Trump and his allies should be more fearful about is that she might write a song about the demons in Mr. Trump’s mind.

 “A more realistic reason that the former president should be fearful of a Ms. Swift endorsement of President Biden has to do with the ages of both candidates and the low turnout of young voters. 

 “One reason that young voters stay home on Election Day is because they don’t relate to candidates who are old enough to be their parents and grandparents. But they do relate to people like Ms. Swift who speaks their language. Younger people of voting age have demonstrated approval of Ms. Swift and Mr. Trump is rightfully fearful that they might follow her preference for president, which I don’t think will be the former president.

“If Ms. Swift endorses the Democratic candidate for president it’s possible that she was the decider.”

That was then. Below is what’s now

The former president has reason to be frightened of Ms. Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, during which she urged her followers to register and vote early.

“Swift has more than 283 million followers on Instagram and has used this platform in the past to encourage her fanbase to register and vote. In the fall of 2023, she helped get more than 30,000 voters registered in just one day. Some swing states in 2020 were decided by less than that margin,” reported USA TODAY, in an article about her endorsement of Ms. Harris.

Even prior to Ms. Swift’s endorsement of Ms. Harris, her fans formed “Swifties for Kamala” clubs, urging people to register and vote. (And Beyonce hasn’t been heard from yet.)

Ms. Swift’s endorsement couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, six days before National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 17, and it included a link to Vote.gov to make it easy for Swifties to register.

Ms. Taylor’s endorsement is welcomed at anytime. But since Ms. Harris was riding a wave of media praise for her debate performance, the media strategist in me thinks it would have been more helpful to the vice president 

if Ms. Taylor waited a few days before her public endorsement, which would have generated an additional few days of positive media coverage.

In a rare case of bipartisanship, the liberal Ms. Swift and the conservatives Chaneys are urging voters to elect the Harris-Walz ticket. But Donald Trump also has supporters -- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Viktor Mihály Orbán, all of whom Mr. Trump admires. And that’s a problem for the former president who wants to become a dictator because dictators aren’t very popular with most Americans.

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris received major media coverage, which continues to make headlines. This reflects a principle I’ve always emphasized: focus on securing coverage in major outlets. One feature in a top-tier news source can achieve more than hundreds of smaller placements. Not only does it impress clients more, but it also leads to a ripple effect of follow-up coverage across other media platforms, amplifying the message.

However, minor outlets shouldn’t be ignored entirely. They are useful for supplementing reports and creating a more comprehensive media presence. This balance is exemplified by Swift's endorsement. It was big news when she made the announcement, and it continues to generate attention. After Swift’s endorsement, several other celebrities followed suit, further boosting Kamala Harris' visibility.