Taylor Swift Drove Nearly 338K People to Vote.gov With Kamala Harris Endorsement Post

silence7@slrpnk.net to politics @lemmy.world – 775 points –
Taylor Swift Drove Nearly 338K People to Vote.gov With Kamala Harris Endorsement Post
hollywoodreporter.com
100

Underestimate Swifties at your peril. Live Nation-Ticketmaster has been a loathed monopoly for years and they screwed up one Taylor Swift sale and there were Congressional hearings and a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice joined by 30 states’ Attorneys General.

Indeed. I’m delighted that LN/TM is finding out after fucking around so much for so long.

On an unrelated note, props for the usage of the correct plural form 🍻

for real? Where can I read more details about it?

So lazy lol.

This isn't Google, it's a social media site. It's just people talking to other people, dude.

True... And yet Google is one tab or two phone swipes away for a really, really easily searchable question. And trust me, usually the one being not lazy for people. It doesn't mean they're not being lazy and fuck lol.

It is in Taylor Swift’s best interest for Kamala to win. Trump will stop these investigations. Kamala will likely continue them.

Taylor Swift sucks almost as much as the people who like her music.

I don't actually think that but I'd rather see that than all this 'taylor swift fans are the mightiest force in the universe' crap good lord. Causes headaches on account of all the involuntary spastic eye rolling.

Kpop too lol

It's not so much a special capacity of swifties, but that they're probably the only large unified bloc anywhere on the electoral left. I like them because they're a large enough group of progressive liberals to prove that a unified front is absolutely effective

Being fan of a spoiled billionare who charges thousand for a gig and who takes 40 seconds private jets flights to avoid traffic jams is quite right wing and conservative mentality if you ask me

Do you think swift is setting ticket prices and slinging tickets before she hits the stage?

Lmao you want to be taken seriously so badly, but all your (overly-abundant) comments are laughable at best.

They are fully aware and ok with it, trying to defend a billionare won't get you much. There are better and poorer artists who play gigs for free.

For some reason you're applying some moral attachment to something that is purely about the size of the group.

Her endorsement is powerful because of the numbers of people it drove to voter registration, and therefore some significant percentage of them to actually vote. Not because she's awesome, or good, or whatever you're upset about

do you know anything about her or do you hate her because she's Taylor Swift? she actually seems to be an empathetic and good person. i don't listen to her music, but that doesn't stop me from recognizing her values.

This is simultaneously wonderful and depressing.

If this is what it takes to get the 18-30 year olds to the polls in the right states, idgaf. Just win, baby!

Oh absolutely, by any means necessary. Which is why I say it's wonderful.

But it's disheartening that a celeb endorsement can drive such engagement. Might be dating myself here but it always reminds me of "what does Ja Rule think!?!"

I'd argue this isn't any celebrity though. Say what you will about Taylor and her music but she has successfully marketed herself as a wholesome role model for younger generations who has ran a nearly 20 year career scandal free. To them she represents more than celebrity fame. She's a movement and if she says vote they will vote.

I'm glad she's a wholesome role model/movement.

I'm glad that she's encouraging folks to vote.

I'm glad she's encouraging folks to vote Dem.

I'm less glad that there are kids whose participation in democracy seems to hinge on a singer. I know that this has always been the case to some extent it just feels increasingly so and kind of sad. Let's not forget that trump's main qualification to get into politics was his celebrity.

My grumpy old man take is our politics are getting dumber and dumber and people registering to vote because their favourite musician told them to, no matter how wholesome or good she is, seems a symptom of that.

For singers who are mostly political, sure, this kind of makes sense (think most of the famous 60s singers, most punk etc) but, to the best of my knowledge/limited listening, Swift's music has seemed pretty non political, which makes it a bit weird to me. (That being said, also what makes it a bit more effective. Rage against the Machine telling folks to vote is preaching to the choir.)

Tl;dr: a good thing has happened, I'm just pining for a better yesteryear that may have never actually existed.

I'm just pining for a better yesteryear that may have never actually existed.

I mean, Neil Young and Joan Baez were encouraging people to vote back in the 60's, so it's been at least 60 years that popular music has been closely involved in youth culture's voting habits

Like I said:

For singers who are mostly political, sure, this kind of makes sense (think most of the famous 60s singers, most punk etc) but, to the best of my knowledge/limited listening, Swift's music has seemed pretty non political, which makes it a bit weird to me. (That being said, also what makes it a bit more effective. Rage against the Machine telling folks to vote is preaching to the choir.)

To me, there's a difference between music that's explicitly political effecting political behaviour and music that isn't.

If, I dunno, BTS got hundreds of thousands of kids to register as Republican, I imagine/hope people would be concerned that that's where kids are getting their political direction from.

Edit: I have no idea if BTS is actually political, I assume not. Most of the young music this old fuck listens to are political because that's what I enjoy, so I'm not great at picking pop non political stuff. Sorry!

Taylor Swift definitely has some political songs like "The Man," which is focused on the double standard faced by female celebrities, or "You Need to Calm Down," which is explicitly pro-LGBTQ+, etc.

Neat! Though, I think her political songs aren't really what she's known for? I could be completely wrong though!

Edit: I mean, especially when you think about the artists you first listed like Baez and Young.

You're definitely right; maybe someone like Dolly Parton would have been a better comparison, but even Dolly doesn't really capture his big Swift is.

Really, my first instinct was to go with Neil Young because he's one of my favorite artists of all time, and I do think that a lot of his biggest hits weren't really overly political, probably split about 50:50 even if we remember the more political stuff now. For every "Ohio" and "For What It's Worth," there's a "Heart of Gold" and "Helpless."

But really I'm splitting hairs because I like talking about music and playing the devil's advocate. Your initial point that Swift isn't known for writing protest music is absolutely correct.

Still, neat to learn that Swift has some political content! I in my monumental ignorance just assumed it was all songs about various exes. (I listened to one album and that seemed like the theme though I got bored partway and stopped really paying attention.)

And as much as I hate celeb culture, there's a small part of me that's like "maybe we could all agree on a President Dolly Parton?"

Not to mention, there's senate and house seats countrywide that could be won with these people.

My first vote might have been because of free coffee at Starbucks for I Voted stickers. In other words, it can always be dumber ;p

Ha, that's pretty good! Thanks for the perspective.

I've voted in every election for which I've been eligible, so I wonder if some of my votes were just to keep the streak alive even if only subconsciously.

I mean, some of them are like that. I've voted every time since, and I maybe my proudest, silliest vote was for Obama in the primary. I was, what, 20, and just really not that into Hillary mostly because she scapegoated video games. Obama ended up being a very good choice, but that reason was definitely immature young adult brain. (Vibe probably mattered, too, now that I think of it).

Honestly, dissing video games was not the best reason to get me to vote against her but like, you know how rare it is for as young person to vote in a primary? Small things like that can matter.

So YOU'RE why Clinton made that terrible Pokemon Go to The Polls and vote joke!

Oh man... hey now I still voted for her! But boy was she out of touch with the youth vote compared to Obama. I've got much higher hopes for Harris, though!

I mean, Obama was just... Damn. One of a kind, one hell of an orator.

I mean...I Pokémon GO to the polls every time I vote.

Because my voting place is a stop! So I do both at once!

I've been voting since I was capable of it though, the mayor of the town I grew up in would go to every 18 (or soon to be if you had a birthday very close to election time) and help get them all squared away and ready! It was cool.

That's such a cool thing for the mayor to do! That's quality public service.

Right there with ya. The fact that this is a thing in our society is just... I'll take it, but yikes. Glad she didn't endorse trump I guess.

how much of a shit did you give about the crusty old white people in government when you were 10-18 yrs old?

As a punk kid living in the world of Reagan, I cared a lot.

All but the 18 year olds can't vote.

That being said, I was 16 on 9/11 so my cohort got into politics very quickly. Especially as most of my good friends were into punk.

My first thought was "imagine if Putin could have afforded her".

Whatever your opinion of her/Swifties, this is ultimately good news.

Is it? They are bringing votes to a political party who is supporting a genocide where more than 40k people died so far, many of them are children.

Imagine if they brought hundreds of thousands votes to a third party or imagine if they would use the same leverage to boycott private jets or discouraging consumerism.

Yeah, Trump presidency would definitely not cause thousands to die.

Link totally irrelevant https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/10/us-coronavirus-response-donald-trump-health-policy

If red and blue have both the blood of thousand innocents on their hands a good news would be a celebrity with millions of followers endorsing a third party

No, it would not. Because in your system, one party has wrestled control by gerrymandering. Any support funnelled away to a third party helps them immensely. But that's obvious to anyone over 14.

Any support for third parties is a blow to red and blue. A celebrity with millions of followers endorsing a third party would shake politics. That's why it's not happening to begin with, if you don't support the establishment and call them out you don't make a career at hollywood

They are bringing votes to a political party who is supporting a genocide where more than 40k people died so far, many of them are children.

It would be no different under the alternative administration. Probably worse actually. There is a very good reason that Iran created a plot to kill Trump and continues to hammer on influencing against Trump. https://www.npr.org/2024/07/16/nx-s1-5042424/trump-iran-plot

There aren't two parties, if celebrities would endorse third parties perhaps you would hear about it

At the presidential level, there are in practical reality only two parties right now. Aside from the electoral realities, presidents also need to work with groups in congress, and only two parties are effectively present in congress. It sucks but it's the reality we're in. Now, this can change, but it needs to come from the bottom up via RCV and creating and enabling effective third+ parties at lower levels of government. Are you participating in your local and state level elections to enable creation of this necessary base of power and proof, or do you just run around online trying to find excuses to justify not voting? As for the choice we are faced with when it comes to Palestine, if you've been aware of this issue for more than the time it's become a performative meme, then you're well aware that there is a very real difference in the way the two parties enable Israeli crimes and merely by basic principles of harm reduction (because, at the end of the day, you should care about stopping as many people from being murdered as possible, not about signaling how wonderfully moral you are), it is very clear who is the more dangerous candidate.

it is very clear who is the more dangerous candidate.

Indeed it is very clear that both red and blue are supporting this genocide and that third parties would be a better choice. A celebrity with millions of followers supporting a third party would be a good news.

Jill Stein is crawling out of her cave after her ritual 4 year rest between presidential elections

If there was a 3rd party that actually did ground work to be viable, they might get a realistic amount of votes.

A celebrity with million of followers endorsing a third party would sure help that and it would be actually good news

Oh shit there are! Wow! /s

If one of them could get to the 5% popular vote...yada yada. Yeah I know. 2016 was the closest they got in a long time. I voted 3rd party then because I'm in a deeply red state so it wasn't a throw away vote or preventing the Dems from winning. They didn't get there. I'm am very convinced at this point you must fix the voting system before 3rd parties have any viability. FPTP is outdated at this point and the added layer of the EC is doing more harm than good now. It was a good idea for a different time, but today is different and the system should evolve. RCV/IRV has shown very clear benefits to enable more than 2 options to be viable on a ballot.

Red and blue parties have both blood on their hands, there's a genocide going on in israel right now where thousand of innocent kids are being murdered. The best time to vote them out is now. If pop stars and celebrities would start endorsing third parties politics would flip. Taylor swift is not going to do that because her views well align with the current rigged establishment that favors corporations and rich peope.

I saw your history and eww. Just gonna hit that ol block button

"Young people never vote. It's pointless to listen to them." - centrists who don't want policy changes.

A big chunk of Swifties are in their 30s at this point

Some people seem to forget that younger generations get older too.

Some people assume that they will become conservative when they hit 30.

The Thor of our universe is also an attractive blonde who has been worshipped by millions of Earthlings

But what exactly were all these people waiting for?... Did they really need Taylor to tell them this? I mean the answer is obviously yes but why?

An incredible and depressing number of people in the world don't know what to wear, eat, watch, where to go on holiday or who to vote for until a celebrity tells them to do it.

We live in a society that does everything in its power to prevent people from empowering ourselves. It's hard to see outside that panopticon, I do not blame the people for their own disenfranchisement.

Young people who didn't consider voting before probably.

A lot of people don't pay attention to politics, and don't realize things like the need to register to vote since their last move, since their name changed when they got married, etc. They just want to shake it out.

Especially from younger people, but not unheard of from older people, is a phrase similar to "I'm not really into politics". People may not realize that they can ignore politics as much as they want, but politics will affect their lives through and through.

Talor Swift endorsing Kamala.

What the swifties hear: Would you kindly vote for Kamala?

I can't believe Taylor Swift drove instead of taking the plane...

Are these confirmed voters or the amount of people clicking a link

It's link based; vote.gov doesn't actually register — they connect people with the correct state voter registration website.

Should we be saying "drove" or "flew in on her private jet"?

Imagine the impact she could have had if she had the balls to actually denounce genocide in Gaza. Art is supposed to shape society, not the other way around.

Imagine the impact she could have had if she had the balls to actually denounce genocide in Gaza.

You seem to have upset lemmy's pro-genocide contingent.

EDIT: As have I. They identify themselves below.

More likely because it has nothing to do with the topic of discussion.

Oh fuck off. Nobody is pro-genocide.

I technically am, but not against Palestinians. The Mormons and Seventh day Adventist are free game though.

I'll presume that's a joke, as that's mostly brainwashed innocent folks. I'd be down for something more like Kill Bill where an ex-mo goes and gets revenge on several elders for doing them dirty.

Forcible destruction of a religion is still genocide. Especially under penalty of force, mind you id focus on powerful community members and priests.

If you are supporting someone committing genocide and it's not your red line, you are supporting and condoning their actions.

But when I call you a Nazi for helping elect Trump (there are only two possible outcomes in November) you get all butthurt.

Stop trolling dead threads because you can't deal with live discussion.

Do you really think I give a flying fuck what anybody thinks about my opinions? As you are here commenting on a month old conversation.

I really should start screenshotting when centrists say the only part out loud.

Evidence would indeed help your argument. But we all can look outside and see the sky is in fact not green, but blue.

Hollywood news on lemmy frontpage, my grandma has better awareness i'm not kidding if i have a political discussion with her the quality would be higher

Cool. Sign off and talk to Grandma then. You won't be missed.

You are confirming that the quality of the discussion here is zero

338k people suddenly registering in one day is news.

As a journalist, the logical question when writing that article would be "why did so many people register suddenly?" And so you write that part into the article/headline to add context for the reader who will probably have that same question.

Otherwise people say "what a shit article, why is this on the front page of Lemmy? I can look up that number for myself"

If I had to spend actual real world time with you, I would probably just knod and agree with your shit-takes like your gran does.

You seem to think you're a warm soul who is inviting to discussion but in reality you're just another sour cunt crying online for attention.

you’re just another sour cunt crying online for attention.

You are replying to multiple posts in this fashion, you sure you are good?

Unlike Taylor Swift's jet, you don't need to announce your departure