A few weeks ago, I retweeted a post by conservative commentator Michael Knowles that read, “Taylor Swift is temperamentally conservative, and the Right should cautiously stan her.” Within a day, I had lost nearly ten followers—which may not seem like a lot, but for someone who had just surpassed 100 followers not long before, the sudden drop stung. Why are people—conservatives especially—getting so torn up over a pop singer?
Various right-wingers have claimed that Swift is an example of a liberal “psyop,” which, according to Mirriam-Webster, is a “military [operation] usually aimed at influencing the enemy’s state of mind through noncombative means (such as distribution of leaflets).”
The theory is that Swift, a known liberal, together with Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, is using her notoriety and public persona to influence the 2024 election. According to a recent poll, about 18 percent of voters said they would vote for a candidate Swift endorsed.
This sent the conservative media into a panic—18 percent is a decent chunk of voters. It might do conservatives some good to stop and think about those numbers for a second.
Taylor Swift’s fanbase is mostly composed of young women. An even larger proportion of these women likely consider themselves progressive. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, in 2020, 67 percent of 18 to 29 year old women voted for Joe Biden. Therefore, it is more than likely that a sizable amount of these Biden voters were already Taylor Swift fans, making the recent revelation that some people would be more likely to vote for a Swift-endorsed candidate…obvious.
On the whole, if there is any female celebrity in our modern age to look up to, Taylor Swift certainly isn’t a bad choice. There are slim pickings for normal women in pop culture: just look at Doja Cat, who released a video last year depicting herself as a demon, or Ariana Grande, who is a loud and proud serial adulteress.
Even if her politics aren’t explicitly conservative, Taylor Swift possesses many “conservative” qualities. In the words of Knowles, “I’m inclined to like Taylor…. I kind of like her because she’s normal.” He goes on to say, “She’s just kind of pretty, and she doesn’t have all sorts of crazy tattoos and mutilations, and she’s dating a football player, and she sings about completely banal and ordinary subjects, and I like that!” It is true: in our bizarre world of cultural decay, Taylor Swift is refreshingly normal. Conservatives should hope that more celebrities behave like her.
I first heard of the “Taylor Swift Baby Boom” in an article from the American Postliberal.
The author of this piece, Luca Adamo, wrote,
If Taylor Swift starts a family, I am certain that her music will take a different tone. Imagine if she wrote about the joys of marriage with the same impassioned sentimentality that she has used to write about breakups. Imagine if the young boyfriend in “All Too Well” were replaced with a good husband. Imagine stadiums packed to the gills full of fans cheering for songs about the joys of being a mother.
Additionally, in an article for the Blaze, Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, made a similar projection:
Ultimately, if Swift and Kelce are going to have any impact on American elections, it won’t be this November. But if all goes well for them, and I hope it does, they really do have the potential to help Make Marriage Great Again. And a true family revival would indeed shape elections for the better, for many years to come.
I think there’s definitely merit to that. Go Chiefs!
Read the full article here
