Taylor Swift Caused a Huge Surge in Voter Registration

Cady Drell
Updated
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Seventeen

We all know Taylor Swift is powerful, but after her Instagram post yesterday in which she (finally) spoke out about her politics, it emerges she may have even more clout than we thought. If you missed it, on Sunday night, Swift posted a political note to Instagram in which she endorsed Phil Bredesen for Tennessee Senator and Jim Cooper for Representative.

In the post, she talked to her 112 million Instagram followers and 83.6 million Twitter followers about Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn’s congressional voting record, which Swift said “appalls and terrifies me.” She went on:

“I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”

She then sent her followers to vote.org to register, and urged them to get educated on the candidates running in their areas.

You can read more about the post and who she endorsed here-but suffice to say, this was a pretty big reversal from Taylor, who’s been notably mum on politics for a long time. Remember during the 2016 election when she told her followers to simply “vote” without endorsing any particular candidate? That was weak.

But better late than never for Swift, because she just made her voice really count. According to Vote.org’s Director of Communications Kamari Guthrie, who was interviewed by Buzzfeed News, Taylor’s endorsement created a massive uptick in voter registration since it was posted. “We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since T. Swift’s post,” Guthrie told BuzzFeed, and added, “Thank God for Taylor Swift.”

Not everyone was as thrilled about her sudden activist awakening. President Donald Trump told reporters he likes her “music about 25 percent less” since she endorsed Democratic candidates. Former Arkansas Governor and Republican TV host Mike Huckabee, who now presumably resides under a rock, tweeted that her endorsement “won’t impact the election unless we allow 13 year old girls to vote.”

Is it just me, or do those guys seem a little scared?

Here's the full post:

I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

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