There’s no better example than Taylor Swift. Here’s the story if you haven’t heard it already.
September 24, 2023 was a minor “holiday” in the U.S. – Voter Registration Day. It’s always a Tuesday in September. Prior to that day, Swift, who had never before been politically active, posted an Instagram message to her 272 million followers, urging them to register to vote on this holiday through the website vote.org.
The result? On that day, vote.org registered over 38,000 new voters – the largest turnout ever for that day. And the majority of those new registrants were Gen Z – those under the age of 26. Clearly, Swift’s suggestion was taken to heart.
So, What’s Next? – Challenges, That’s What
Registering to vote via a few quick clicks on a website is one thing. Translating all of that into actual voting on election day is quite something else. That will take much more than the registration process. And here’s why.
Legislatures in many states are trying to suppress the younger vote because this demographic is far more progressive in their thinking than those lawmakers want. They support abortion; they support racial and gender equality; and they believe in the science of climate change – just a few examples of the things that conservative “old white men” and many evangelical Christians oppose.
Attempts to suppress the youth vote have resulted in laws that restrict absentee voting (many college kids are not studying in the place of their permanent residence), early voting, voting by mail, and cumbersome ID procedures to be registered in one’s state.
Will Swift Take the Ball?
The question now is what Swift intends to do to get these newly-registered Gen Z’ers to the polls on election day.
She has already begun, actually. Tuesday, November 7 was an election day in a number of states. She provided a link to her followers in those states where they could find what was on the ballots and urged them to get to the polls and vote.
Swift admits that she really wasn’t a “political person” until recently. Well, almost that is. During the 2020 election cycle, she urged young people to vote for leaders who took COVID seriously and cared about keeping Americans safe and healthy. She voted for Biden, which was no surprise, given the pandemic and other issues she supports.
In fact, at age 30, Taylor Swift is actually in sync with a large group of more mature female voters who support abortion rights, voting rights, full equality for all, and movements to end discrimination and hate. Many of these women are single, like Swift, and use their digital presence to promote their causes on social media. Heck, they even date online, as the membership of the dating Hily app clearly shows.
“Swiftie Sway” Cannot Be Ignored
Consider this. This fall, Swift attended a Kansas City Chiefs home game, cheering on tight-end Travis Kelce. That was the news of the day, not the game itself. And here’s what happened right after. Sales of Kelce jerseys increased by 400%. How’s that for influence?
And once she got involved with voting, the 2020 mid-term elections showed that GenZ voters showed up in numbers not seen in 30 years. And that vote was overwhelmingly for Democrats (a 28% margin over Republican candidates). The predicted “red wave” simply fizzled.
Swift is joined by Beyonce who has also become politically active on her social media accounts. Together, these two are a formidable force that should have conservatives and cultural fundamentalists worried for 2024.
