Pop music princess Taylor Swift’s decision to wade into electoral politics for the first time on Sunday has driven a spike in online voter registration, particularly among young people, according to Reuters citing the website Vote.org.
The nonprofit site, which helps people register online, reported 240,000 new registrations since Swift posted a message on Instagram endorsing two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee and urging people to register.
By comparison, the site recorded 57,000 new registrations in all of August and 190,000 last month. About 102,000 of the registrations since Sunday were among voters between 18 and 29 years old, an increase that the site said was likely prompted by Swift’s post.
Vote.org acknowledged it was not possible to measure the direct impact of Swift’s move.
“But one thing is clear, we’re seeing a massive surge in the 18-24 and 25-29 voters,” the site said in a statement.
Meanwhile The Associated Press reports Swift's her endorsement in a competitive midterm U.S. Senate race isn’t likely to result in a massive backlash against the country-singer-turned-pop-star, observers say.
Republicans now have some bad blood with the star after a surprise endorsement on Instagram Sunday night for Tennessee Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and an argument against Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn.
Accompanied by a Polaroid-looking selfie, Swift acknowledged being reluctant to publicly voice her opinions in the past. But she says things are different in recent years, a possible reference to when she went to court last year to testify against a radio DJ who she says groped her.
Blackburn’s voting record, Swift wrote, “appalls and terrifies me,” noting Blackburn’s votes against equal pay for women and the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Trump, who has campaigned for Blackburn, dismissed Swift’s opinion of the candidate, saying Swift “doesn’t know anything about her. And let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, OK?”
In Nashville, the persistent parable of the Dixie Chicks comes up any time artists voice a political opinion. The hugely popular and Grammy-winning country group was criticized after lead singer Natalie Maines told an overseas crowd in 2003 that they were ashamed of then-President George W. Bush over the war in Iraq. It’s so pervasive as a theme in Nashville that it’s become a verb: to be “Dixie Chicked.”
Diane Pecknold, professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Louisville, said Swift’s transition from country to pop has broadened her fan base.
“She doesn’t have to concern herself with potentially alienating what is perceived as a conservative country base,” Pecknold said.
Still the common refrain of “shut up and sing” gets lobbed at many artists, but in the age of social media, everyone has an opinion, even on Swift’s opinion, Keel said.
“On Facebook, I have seen my friends say, ‘I am never buying another Taylor Swift album’ to ‘I just went online and bought her entire catalog,’” Keel said.
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