Editor’s note: This article was submitted for publication Fall 2018. This is a late upload.
By: MacKenzie Taylor
Celebrities and politics don’t tend to mesh very well. However, any time the two cross paths, there’s bound to be a major public reaction. This was definitely the case when Taylor Swift took to her Instagram on Monday, Oct. 7 to share a politically fueled post with her 12 million followers about the upcoming midterm elections.
Swift began her post by saying that she has been reluctant to share her political opinions in the past. She went on to say that because of events in her life and events in the world over the past two years that her stance on expressing those political opinions has changed.
Swift shared that for the elections she will be voting in the state of Tennessee. She voiced her lack of support for Marsha Blackburn, who is running for Senate in the state, stating, “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.” Her post went on to talk about how Blackburn voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and that she was against same-sex marriage. Swift stated that these do not reflect her own values, and that she will instead be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Towards the end of her post, Swift urged for people to educate themselves on the candidates for their states and to vote based on who best reflected their personal values.
Swift attended the American Music Awards two days after her initial post, and went home with four different awards, including artist of the year. During her acceptance speech for the final award, she made mention of the upcoming elections and once again encouraged people to vote. When wrapping up her speech, she said, “This award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people, and you know what else is voted on by the people, the midterm elections on November 6. Get out and vote.” The room erupted in applause for Swift as she took her exit from the stage.
Swift continued to share her political voice by posting to her Instagram on Wednesday, Oct. 17 about early voting, saying that it’s something she wished she had known about when she was 18 and voting for the first time. She even included a link in her bio so that people can find out the early voting dates for their individual states.
Since her first post, there has been a significant increase in voter registration. According to officials from Vote.org, there have been over 166,000 new voters registered.
