I thought the timing was good, coming right after the debate to help build momentum.
And also, the message to get registered is important for young folks who aren’t registered - how much time is left to register? (I know, varies by state …)
It’s the start of the university terms, when young people are arriving at college and are in the “To Do list” mode. Swift just reminded them to put another thing on their list.
To be fair, that’s part of her oeuvre. 
Apparently the Harris campaign didn’t know the endorsement was coming:
That must have been a good moment for Harris: She walks off the stage, and her staffers tell her that Taylor Swift just endorsed her.
Yeah, if you read recent news about her, there was all sorts of weirdness wondering if Taylor Swift was secretly a Trump fan.
For example, from the Daily Fail:
The Guardian also had an opinion piece about that, but the writer did say she didn’t really think Swift was a Trumper, but that hug of Brittany Mahomes had the rumor mill going.
I didn’t hunt it down (and don’t plan to) but my wife was saying she read a Vanity Fair opinion piece along the same lines and how they hoped Swift’s political endorsements in past elections weren’t just “an era” (see what they did there?), etc.
I think a number of people were surprised that there was no immediate official backlas about Trump’s fake AI Swift endorsement but she cited that as part of the reason for her endorsement now.
Scot Lehigh, a columnist with the Boston Globe, opined on Harris’s dismantling of Trump in the debate, and one of the comments following the piece was : “Scot, your thoughts on Trump getting “Swift-Voted” last night?”
If you’re Joe or Jane Average who speak with a country twang, it’s a pretty good bet you’re a trumper. If not, most of your neighbors are. Swift has a similar accent and makes C&W-adjacent music. “Therefore she must be one of us.” is probably all the complicated the reasoning behind this manufactured controversy gets.
It’s been a long time since that was true. She released a folky album during Covid, but her other recent albums have been far closer to dance-pop than C&W.
(Ms Akaj is a huge Swiftie.)
Thanks for the update. I heard one of hers recently and I suppose from the twangy voice and the “he done left me” lyrics I pegged it as C&W even if the beat, instrumentals, etc. were more pop-ish.
I personally don’t recall hearing a single Swift song but this can be significant. I can’t think of a celebrity with a bigger following and many of her fans would certainly give great credence to her opinion. She can mobilize a great many young voters to register and if they’re registering because of her endorsement those are potentially hundreds of thousands if not millions of votes in the Harris column. Poor Donnie, getting two swift kicks in the ass in one night.
Trump turned the cheeks?
See, I don’t get that. She gets along (or tries to get along in public) with the family of her boyfriend’s most important coworker. I don’t see how that indicates some kind of conversion.
Also by timing her endorsement to after the debate it supports the narrative that she isn’t endorsing Harris because a partisan that is in the tank for the Dems, but instead is making her decision on the evidence of the debate.
As a side note, do people here think the wrote the endorsement herself or was it prepared (with her input and final authorization) by a social media staffer? Not that I blame her if the latter was true.
I have nothing but speculation, but it is an extremely well-written and precisely parsed note that operates on two levels: 1) a reasoned and clear explanation of who she is voting for and why, while taking the very non-controversial position that folks should do their own research and make up their own minds, while offering resources for voting information; and 2) red meat for Harris supporters with the Vance-trolling sign off (and picture choice).
I’m not suggesting that she is not capable of doing that herself, but to me it has the hallmarks of a professional writer.
Isn’t she a professional writer? Songwriter at least?
Yes, she is a professional songwriter, and a very accomplished one. I still think it likely someone else carefully wrote that post. That is 100% hunch on my part and not intended to be a slight to Swift in any way.
I’m sure that she wrote it with the assistance and input from some of her staff. I’m also sure that those are her sincere beliefs.
Millions of her fans have turned 18 since 2020. She is getting them engaged. They will register and they will vote.
Same here. It’s not a binary thing; she could have at wrote it and run it past some help (which would be the smart thing to do anyway, in my opinion)
Swift writes enough digs and jabs that “Crazy Cat Lady” is low-hanging fruit as a troll.
How strong do her Pennsylvania roots hold up these days? Everything helps, but motivating PA does more than motiviating non-swing state fans.
She’s encouraging people to get out and vote, and that’s a good thing.