“I am a Swiftie,” my 30ish restaurant server was surprised to hear me say, after the meal had concluded and we were having a brief chat, which was joined by a couple of other young women standing nearby.
“What’s not to like?” I asked.
A couple of days later that rhetorical question was answered by a Philadelphia Inquirer poll that showed megastar Taylor Swift’s favorability among Pennsylvanians was about the same as Donald J. Trump, and both trailed Kamala Harris, who has never had a hit album.
Harris was liked by a bare majority, 51%, followed by Swift at 46% and Trump at 45%.
Given that more people attend Swift’s rallies (called concerts) than Trump’s, and they pay a queen’s ransom for tickets, why should that be?
First, me. Why am I a Swiftie?
Even Trump grudgingly admits she’s beautiful, but that’s not key for me.
I have followed — not closely — her career from when she was a gangly country singer upstate, to her career-savvy move to Nashville, to her seamless conversion from country to pop, along the way using her power to box the ears of record companies. As an independent businesswoman she is a shark, but she has never lost the tight emotional bond with her fans and her availability to them. It’s shrewd business, but I think it is genuinely her. When she is with Travis and the Kelce clan, she plays the role of girl friend, not demanding superstar. Good parenting, I think.
I have never bought or downloaded anything she has recorded. She does not have the voice of a Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera. Her lyrics are not intended for a shall we say mature (ahem) man, but for younger (and older) women who have experienced heartbreak. She has used her music to settle scores. I can relate to all that. (I used to joke that I hoped someday she would write a song about me. Inside joke for Swifties.)
So what might account for her low favorability?
She’s a Lefty.
In Philadelphia, that would be a plus, but not in the rest of our Commonwealth, sometimes referred to as Pennsyltucky. Or, as James Carville put it years ago, “Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh in the west, Philadelphia in the east, with Alabama in between.”
A dear friend, a very conservative woman, loathes Swift, and not just because she joined the Kansas City Chiefs tribe.
No. It’s mainly because Swift is pro-choice. So are almost two-thirds of Americans, but that doesn’t matter to my friend, who considers abortion a moral evil.
I don’t agree with my friend, but I understand the depth of her feelings. I am unenthusiastically pro-choice, but would never vote for an election denier. So we all have our different bends and shapes.
My friend is a Trumpster. I am not. She was very cross when Swift endorsed Harris. Period.
I was slightly surprised Swift endorsed Harris, but I really liked how she did it in a message to her 238 million Instagram followers. Here is the first paragraph:
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.”
Get that? She asked her people to research and reach their own conclusions. She did not ask them to vote for Kamala Harris, as she said she would do later in the message.
She then reiterated she had done her research and asked her followers to do the same.
So what’s wrong with that?
And even though I admire her, and I am a Swiftie, you may have noticed that didn’t stop me from using a meme that makes fun of her.
She can take it.
I wouldn’t call your friend a Trumpster. She cannot stand him. She sees him as the lesser of two flawed candidates. I feel the same way.
So you are calling a convicted felon, rapist, serial liar, a man who mishandled every business he ever owned, mismanaged a global pandemic, took classified documents and compromised national security and invited the Talaban to Camp David the “lesser of two evils?” Might wanna rethink that.
The sad part of this is that she HAD to encourage people to be “sure to watch and read everything (they) can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.” Most people do not and that is why we are in the political pickle we are in now. Fox IS NOT news. It is propaganda and nasty propaganda at that. Social media is a silo and echo chamber of conspiracy mongering. But our citizens prefer to engage in confirmation bias and simple answers to difficult questions. I give you just one example of people blaming the president for gasoline prices, when the economics of oil production, refinery and gasoline production and cartels are extremely complex. But it is so easy to blame Biden or Obama or … Many people are just too lazy to do their homework which is why they would rather engage in calling people names and spouting MAGA nonsense. It is hard work to help our democratic republic remain free. Sadly it is hard work far too few people care to engage in. Watching Fox and passing along nonsense is far easier.
BTW, I doubt that Swift’s endorsement will make much of a difference. Young people are not inclined to vote, rather they talk a good game. My dose of cynicism this morning.
Presidents don’t control the stock market either, but they get credit/blame when it goes up or down. Just the way things are.
.”Fox IS NOT news. It is propaganda and nasty propaganda at that.”
And the networks, CNN and especially MSNBC are not propaganda? You really believe that? Did you watch the ABC debate?
The media is the biggest danger to our democracy than any one candidate.
Well, Fox did have to pay a $780 million award when they were convicted in court of lying, and their defense was basically “only an idiot would believe what we do is news.” So ya might wanna read that a little more closely, because you may well be the idiot they were talking about.
Taylor Swift hates Trump and endorses Harris? Who really gives a shiznitz? What a waste of a column.
Obviously you care Vince. At least enough to comment about it.
You beat me to that remark.
👍
My regret was a waste of a column.
Your opinion has been noted. Obviously, I disagree.
Your columns almost invariably deal with serious topics. I found the fluff of the column offputting.
Why do you bother to continue to read this “fluff” column and reply, Vince?
This was a serious topic, Vince, written with a light touch. I am surprised you so badly missed the point.
Maybe you were thrown off by Kamala being more popular than Trump. (Which you don’t believe.)
Not for nothing, but this has to be a new low for the Inky/DN. What an absolute useless article. Clearly pandering to the idiotic under-30 crowd, I guess they were hoping millennials would see her on the cover and buy a copy. I love to watch the Stinky’s demise in real time 👏
Too bad that Taylor Swift said anything about politics.
My comment this morning to an Inquirer reporter seemingly besotted with Kamala:
How much of Harris’s polling has to do with the anti-Trump attitude the main media newspapers have been hawking for 8 years versus polling in favor of any leadership, wisdom, skills or ability Harris has?
So far, I find no skills, policies nor mission that Harris has that would benefit anyone or any group in the US nor for our allies.
Saturday Night Live skits, perhaps, with her dependable and amusingly labyrinthine way of speaking and saying nothing, which are always priceless…but as Commander in Chief in a troubled world and nation?
The USA would be a laughing stock around the world if she is elected president, even more so than from Biden’s lack of leadership.
Trump’s personality is often repugnant, yes, and made to seem worse by the out of context ways newspapers gleefully misprint what he says,
BUT…
Trump’s strengths in policies for all of us are border security, military, economy, taxation, public education, EPA, energy, ship building, innovations, fair competition between unions and non unions, suggested cabinet positions, ideas such as Musk to seek gov efficiency (which we all know is at least 25% waste and inefficient and far too expensive), and so many more which he has discussed and done before, and are written in his own platform statement which are solid reasons for everyone to vote for Trump’s policies, (distinguished from his personality)….if we all seek to strengthen and protect the USA, domestically and abroad.
Running Kamala to be president, instead of running her for SNL is silly, insulting to all of us, and a dangerous cynical joke on their own fellow citizens by the back room autocrats, Pelosi and Schumer.
Are people polling for Kamala’s lack of leadership and lack of skills, or are they polling for her to vote against the images our own newspapers repeatedly have fabricated about Trump’s policies?
Gardner A. Cadwalader
Philadelphia
Superb post! Common sense. Reality. Educational. The hallmark of Mr. Cadwalader, obviously.
“𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥’𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨?”
You have that bass-ackward Gardner. The newspapers are just reporting about the many fabrications that the orange-skinned POS is constantly telling.
Heh. It’s simply not what the people in the room, our generals, national security professionals, pentagon veterans, or frankly anyone whose source of information is something other than Trump himself and the weirdos setting up Project 2025, thinks.
Just today, 741 National Security Leaders, comprised of over 230 general and flag officers, including 15 retired four-star generals and admirals, 10 cabinet secretaries, 10 service secretaries, and 148 ambassadors, just endorsed Harris for president. https://www.nsl4a.org
Here’s their letter, here https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris
So, here’s a few excerpts:
“We do not make such an assessment lightly. We are trained to make sober, rational decisions. That is how we know Vice President Harris would make an excellent Commander-in-Chief, while Mr. Trump has proven he is not up to the job. As leaders, we know effective leadership requires in-depth knowledge, careful deliberation, understanding of your adversaries, and empathy for those you lead. It requires listening to those with expertise and not firing them when they disagree with you.
Vice President Harris has proven she is an effective leader able to advance American national security interests. Her relentless diplomacy with allies around the globe preserved a united front in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. She grasps the reality of American military deterrence, promising to preserve the American military’s status as the most “lethal” force in the world.
The contrast with Mr. Trump is clear: where Vice President Harris is prepared and strategic, he is impulsive and ill-informed. He has heaped praise on adversarial dictators like China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jung Un, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as the terrorist leaders of Hezbollah. Conversely, he has publicly and privately excoriated the leaders of our most steadfast allies, including the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Canada, and Germany. He abandoned our Kurdish allies while ceding influence in the Middle East to Russia, Iran, and China.”
As they say, read the whole thing.
Tell me if I am wrong, but this type of bipartisan and nonpartisan endorsement from retired flag officers and national security officials is in my experience, unprecedented. These are serious, well-informed people who have dedicated their lives to advancing the best interests of this country.
I don’t see how any serious person can dismiss this endorsement as meaningless. I see it as a pretty easy question–who do I believe, senior military and national security professionals or Laura Loomer, Kanye West, the Proud Boys and January 6 rioters? It’s not close.
Thanks for pointing out the difference between someone endorsing a candidate and recommending or in some cases telling others who to vote for So different than the e-mail messages I keep getting from people like “Barbara Streisand” telling me why she is voting to Bob Casey and how I should too? Though I am not sure how I feel about whether he choice needs to be advertised whether by herself or the inquirer.
Well, she said she was energized to do this now in response to an AI ad having her endorse Trump. (But she endorsed Biden last time.)
As to the Inky, names make news and she is one of the biggest names in America.
I blame them much more for giving 20 inches to a group it had never heard of, Writers Against the War on Gaza, announcing a boycott on Israeli-American chef Michael Solomonov and his outlets. The “group” would not give the Inquirer any information about itself, or even have a named spokesman.
This so-called group has a website that provides little real information, other than opposing Zionism and the “American empire.” It began a year ago with a dozen, but its numbers have “swelled,” it says. To how many? It doesn’t say.
Anyone with $60 can create a website.
Wow. “American Empire.” Real old-time pro-Soviet commie stuff. So 1972. How old are these folks? Sounds like a press release from the PLO back when they were Soviet sponsored. Free Puerto Rico!
Maybe because of the Ukraine war, the Russian troll farms are now staffed by retirees?