Decked out in their friendship bracelets and ready with a long list of song-related puns, Taylor Swift fans came together Tuesday night. But they weren’t there for a concert. They were there to organize.
“Welcome to the Swifties for Kamala kickoff call. It's been waiting for you,” Irene Kim, the executive director and co-founder of the group, said with a smile.
The grassroots organization, which is affiliated neither with Swift nor the Harris campaign – launched hours after President Biden ended his presidential bid and Vice President Harris took over the ticket, is focused on mobilizing Swift fans to get out the vote for Democrats this fall. It’s the latest in a growing list of coalitions taking action for Harris, including ‘White Dudes for Harris,’ which reported having nearly 200,000 attendees and raising more than $4 million.
Swifties for Harris held its first organizing call on Zoom Tuesday night and featured appearances from a handful of progressive political leaders – including Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with an appearance from musician and long-time Swift friend Carole King.
After the call ended, the group reported raising more than $122,000 for Harris’ campaign, growing to nearly $150,000 by Wednesday.
We had the time of our life on the #S4KCall with you 🫶
— Swifties For Kamala (@Swifties4Kamala) August 28, 2024
Long live #SwiftiesForKamala, we had over 34,000 Swifties join us on our call, and we raised $122,000 tonight to help elect @KamalaHarris and @Tim_Walz!
The gathering of more than 34,000 was another glimpse into the organic enthusiasm that Harris has benefited from in the past month since announcing, and while the Swift fan base spans generations, it’s another potentially promising sign for her standing with the youth vote – a critical voting bloc for Democrats this fall.
While Swift backed Biden four years ago, she has yet to publicly endorse in the presidential race. Still, her ability to rally her fans to political causes is unquestioned: In 2018, when she endorsed two Democratic congressional candidates in her home state of Tennessee, the voter group Vote.org reported 65,000 new voter registrations in 24 hours.
Among voters under 30 – who played a critical role in Biden’s win four years ago, Swift is a powerful symbol. She’s massively celebrated among many of this target generation, who have known the country-turned-pop star for most of their lives. Swift’s debut album – which was released in the fall of 2006 – is nearly the same age as an 18-year-old eligible voter today.
The group’s co-founders, Kim, 29, and Emerald Medrano, 22, addressed the thousands of attendees while sporting the number 47 written on their hands – a nod to Harris and Swift, who does the same with her lucky number 13.
“It was my wish that me and this beautiful movement could help Kamala [Harris] win this election and become our first woman president and the 47th President of the United States,” said Medrano.
“Because things will change, and we have the power to do it through the way we bead our friendship bracelets red, white and blue and decorate our debate parties as if they were album [release] parties,” he added. “The way we show others how voting should be celebrated and not tolerated.”
Each speaker shared a collective pitch: attendees need to turn their love story for Swift into momentum for Harris and Democrats down the ballot.
King, who has long supported Democratic candidates, shared her personal experience canvassing for candidates.
“Don't be afraid because there is nothing to lose and everything to gain … The key is listening,” she said. “Don’t be afraid. There is too much at stake.”
Many politicians on the call took their Swift-related mentions seriously.
In his speech, Markey delivered more of a call to action and took jabs at former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump – someone Swift has criticized in the past.
“There are just five fortnights until Election Day, but we are not out of the woods yet,” he said, “We have our work ahead of us to make sure we defeat this antihero wannabe, or as I like to call him, ‘Mr. Casually Cruel, Mr. Everything Revolves Around You.’”
“In the words of Taylor Swift, ‘I never trust a narcissist,’” Markey added. “And this narcissist in chief clearly doesn't know enough about karma or what I like to call the infinite organizing power of the Swifties on this Zoom call.”
The senior Senator from Massachusetts is no stranger to Swift-lyric-easter eggs. After he staved off a primary challenge from former Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III, supporters of the senator repeatedly referenced the Swift song, “the last great american dynasty,” poking fun at Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy.
— Students For Markey (@Students4Markey) July 24, 2020
Though the speakers on the call tried to weave light-hearted pop culture references into their remarks, the group’s organizers made a point to stress the legitimacy and seriousness of their work.
“I think one thing that maybe the media doesn't always get right is that Swifties are just about making little posts and little bracelets. And we do do those things for sure, but I think you can see with the intentionality of this call that we really have had a lot of thought in making sure everyone is included,” said Annie Wu Henry, the group’s campaign manager. “We are providing opportunities, and we are really giving the resources for people to be involved and civically engage this cycle. ”
The call also had an immediate ask of its participants: Register to vote. By the end of the call, 14,000 reported registering.
The group also put out an ask with a coveted reward: Attendees who get people in their community to check their voter registration get entered into a contest to win tickets to a Swift concert.
Entries increase in value if the person they reach is a low-frequency voter, unregistered or lives in a swing state.
The group plans to have additional organizing events as the election continues since there are indeed only five fortnights left.
Copyright 2024 NPR
