Taylor Swift Breaks Political Silence, Endorses Tennessee Democrats

American pop sensation Taylor Swift has been criticized by (mostly leftist) fans for appearing to cynically embrace feminism as a marketing tool while remaining unwilling to publicly declare her support for progressive politicians. For a star who started out as a crossover country music sensation – and who famously published an editorial explaining her business strategy in the Wall Street Journal – Swift’s management team undoubtedly believed that publicly bashing then-candidate Donald Trump would be a massive liability when it came time for Swift to tour on her next album.

But earlier this year, cracks in Swift’s apolitical facade began to form when she expressed support for the March for our Lives movement. And on Sunday, Swift officially abandoned her policy of “staying away” from politics when she, in a length Instagram post, expressed her support for LGBTQ and women’s rights and condemned Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for Senate in Tennessee. Swift then publicly endorsed Blackburn’s Democratic opponent Phil Bredesen, as well as Democratic House candidate Rep. Jim Cooper (though she grew up in Pennsylvania, Swift got her start in the music business in Nashville).

Swift claimed that, while she loves supporting women in office, Blackburn’s voting record simply “appalls and terrifies me”.

“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,” Swift wrote. “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 Rep. Jim Cooper for House of Representatives.”

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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

Bresden thanked Swift for her endorsement in a tweet, saying he is “honored to have your support”:

Thank you for the kind words @taylorswift13. I’m honored to have your support and that of so many Tennesseans who are ready to put aside the partisan shouting and get things done. We’re ready for it. Last day to register to vote is October 9. https://t.co/6Xd6YyaJCG pic.twitter.com/CatUBkXPKe

— Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) October 8, 2018

With this in mind, we can’t help but wonder: Will Swift choose to embrace her newfound political agency by taking some bold new activist stance? Or maybe start a twitter war with President Trump? Or maybe this will be the last we hear from Swift about politics, given that her managers are probably keeping a close eye on ticket sales and music streaming revenues as they wait to see if this bold new marketing strategy pans out. After all, it seemed to work for Nike…

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