1y ago

Could Taylor Swift tilt Florida blue? It’s Democrats’ wildest dream.

www.politico.com

“Florida Democrats don’t know why Taylor Swift is naming an upcoming song on her new album ‘Florida!!!’ or the reason she chose to hold three concerts in Miami less than a month before the November elections,” Politico reports.

“But their excitement around the news is less about ‘why?’ and more about leveraging Swift’s celebrity status to fill the blank space for beleaguered voters tired of losing to Republicans.

124 comments

It's weird how moderates think Taylor likes Biden and doesn't just hate trump.
It's the only reason most Biden voters are Biden voters, which is why he's polling so terribly
There's no reason we have to be running such an unlikable candidate again, just because trump is even more unlikable. It's only worked 50% of the time now.
Edit:
Wow. A lot of people don't seem to know many Dem politicians...
Biden himself said over 50 Dems could easily beat trump.
I think this guy would be a good option, but there's lots of others
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff
- I'm not exactly a fan of Biden, but he's on the ballot for two reasons:
  Incumbents historically have an advantage, and it would be crazy to throw that advantage away.
  Who else would run in his place? It's not like there's some other obvious candidate. I can think of lots of progressives that I'd personally love to see on the ballot, but the reality is that none of those candidates are seen as being electable in swing states. Be nice if it were otherwise, but it ain't.
  
  Incumbents historically have an advantage, and it would be crazy to throw that advantage away.
  In lower offices maybe, but since 1980 (Carter) we've only had 4/7 incumbents reelected. People may talk about how Carter/Bush/Trump all had something uniquely terrible that caused them to lose their reelection, but Biden's got a 38% approval rating, is tied to an unpopular foreign war, and has record low numbers with critical voting blocs. He's not riding high and doing fine.
  
  Who else would run in his place?
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff
  That guy's 36, but ran the most funded US Senate campaign in America's history.
  So he's got the money neoliberals say they care about.
  He was an investigative journalist going after corruption, his positions line up with what Dem voters want...
  And he's really popular with gen z voters.
  Why not him if all that matters is "not trump"?
  
  I will pour my heart, soul and life savings into an AOC for president campaign as soon as she decides she's ready.
  
  You realize the DNC went into overdrive to kill the primary this election cycle, right?
  Reordering states to favor Biden, keeping candidates off ballots, and some state Democratic parties even effectively cancelled their presidential primary.
  Now, if you only consume mainstream media sources, it wouldn't be surprising that you weren't aware, as they have been mostly ignoring it.
  
  Maybe they could have held a preliminary contest to pick a candidate.
  
  You'd be moving that advantage to 2028 most likely. It sure would be amazing to get 12 years of democratic presidents.
  
  I would love to see President Elizabeth Warren
  
  Polling indicates among democrat voters that LITERALLY ANY OTHER DEMOCRAT IS PREFERRED OVER BIDEN.
  It’s so bad that next presidential election (if we have one) the democrat can candidate can say “at least I’m not Biden” and probably win on that alone. That’s basically all Biden is doing.
- Literally anyone under 55 could probably beat Trump.
  
  Seriously.
  People act like a candidate has to be perfect, if oring that Biden has been polling terribly and failed multiple times at becoming president before narrowerly squeaking by trump.
- Yeah it would be really nice if there was a D that folks liked.. I'd love to see a landslide election. But those days are gone I'm afraid.
  THO.. has there been a Democrat or Republican in the last.. 50 years that folks really liked?
  Maybe Obama... But other than him...idk
  
  Yeah, both parties seem to just be running on "I'm not the other guy" recently, and it's getting old (though admittedly the Republicans have been running on it a lot harder). Obama was the last candidate to be nominated on a platform that tried to make the case for a future.
  
  Bill Clinton was popular for a while, which is a shame since he contributed heavily to the deregulated economy we have now
  
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff
  I'm not a huge supporter of the guy, but he's young, progressive, really popular with the youth, and just raised more money for his Senate run than any other politician in American history.
  Sounds like he's going to be president anyways eventually, why wait 30 years before it's "his turn"?
  Like, remember all the talk about the Georgia runoffs and no one expected Dems to win?
  Ossoff is one of the Dems that won that
- FPTP needs to go before we can have earnest conversations about how milquetoast a politician Biden is.
  
  Then people who love milquetoast candidates will find a new arbitrary criterion that must be met before we can criticize their candidates.
- Who is a likable candidate, with experience but younger, who has name-recognition, can offset incumbent advantage, and not be an easy punching-bag for right-wing propaganda? Maybe Gretchen Whitmer? I don't know.
  Unfortunately Democrats don't have great candidates at least for another election cycle or two. They're between two generations with nobody in the Goldilocks zone.
  I was concerned a while back that Republicans would rally behind someone like DeSantis or Haley and the age difference alone, let alone being a "fresh face" would be enough to put them over the top. Fortunately, the same match-up goes in our favor right now — especially with the backdrop of (a) the economy, (b) women's rights, and (c) corruption trials (based on independents polling).
  It looks like the Senate is going to be much harder to keep than the White House.
  
  Jon Ossoff
  But Biden himself said there's over 50 other Dems who could beat trump.
  Why are you acting like that's not true?
deleted by creator
- God damn was that refreshing to read! I appreciate your enthusiasm! 🥂
- I mean, look at all of the conspiracy theories swirling about now.
- GOPers are seriously unlikeable motherfuckers to start with
  I dunno, the racism and simplistic explanations seem to be pretty likeable among a certain crowd
  
  The majority of that demographic is dying in the next couple decades. That's why the GOP is so desprate.
- Well said!
- whoever has the most likes wins
  Well, whoever spreads the most hates wins. I don't think even the Trump fans like Trump. They just think that Dems eat babies, want to turn them into femboys, or replace them with blacks and Jews or whatever.
  
  deleted by creator
If Taylor Swift saves democracy by getting a bunch of her fans to vote... I would buy at least one of her albums. I wouldn't listen to it, but I'd be thankful just the same.
- I wouldn’t listen to it
  I’m not a Swiftie. My sisters were big fans growing up, but I couldn’t care less about her music.
  But when Midnights held all ten of the Billboard top 10 slots, and people were talking about it, I decided to listen to it on a walk with my dog.
  The music isn’t amazing or anything, but it isn’t bad, either. It’s pretty standard modern pop, I would assume. But her lyrics are amazing. I’m not exactly sure why, but that album resonated with me, a man in my thirties (who admittedly prides himself on finding things to like about stuff). I listened to it twice that day, and I still listen to some of the songs on it on occasion.
  I can understand why people get really into her music.
  Anyway, all I’m saying is that if you do buy her album to thank her for saving democracy, it might be worth a listen. There is certainly better music out there, but also MUCH worse.
  
  I’m not a Swiftie
  when Midnights held all ten of the Billboard top 10 slots, and people were talking about it, I decided to listen to it
  music isn’t amazing or anything but her lyrics are
  resonated with me
  a man in my thirties
  still listen to some of the songs on it on occasion
  Are you me?? Like I genuinely could've written this drunk and forgot. That's literally exactly what I did with that album and how I feel about it.
  I listened to it several times for a month even, so much that I got a good chuckle when Spotify informed me in the yearly review that Taylor Swift was my most played artist in 22, which is admittedly easy when all you hear normally is radio stations and playlists with various artists. Still, hilarious to see her on top of my usual metalcore bands.
  Some lyrics still randomly pop into my mind these days and then I have that song stuck in my head for a while. I then sometimes put it on while cooking. It's fun music to sing loudly and awkwardly to when you are alone, lol.
- If you mix some Veritechs into this plotline, I think you have the makings of the next Macross series, and I'd go out and buy that for a dollar.
  
  I think you may be onto something. I'm more interested, though, in giant transforming robot airplanes than a music and dance number
- Same.
Good luck getting the Latino voters in Florida vote blue. There's been a generational effort to convince the Cuban and Puerto Rican voters that anyone left of Mussolini is Fidel Castro incarnate.
I love my Latino brothers and sisters, but Florida is not the place to hope for a blue wave.
- Actually Latins in Florida are not a block. Young Latin voters tend to vote Democrat- older Republican.
- I thought Latinos in general, not just in FL, tend to lean more conservative? For years there was the narrative that Dems would just wipe out Republicans if they got the Latino vote on board, but Latinos tend to be more conservative-leaning in general, are themselves against illegal immigration, probably trend more religious, and really haven't come out to help Democrats.
  Democrats in general tend to try to pull in alot of groups that don't turn out to be very reliable voters. Oftentimes I think they're trying to do the right thing for these various marginalized groups, but then those groups just don't have their back when they're really needed. Youth voters might be getting a bit better in recent years, but that hasn't always been the case.
  
  I thought Latinos in general, not just in FL, tend to lean more conservative?
  In 2020, Latino voters voted Biden 2-1. They've been reliably Democratic, but just not to the extent of Black voters. They have recently trended more Republican, but that doesn't make them conservative (at least in the big picture everything falls on a single political axis).
  
  It's really hard to see that Latino's just can't see that they're voting against their interest when they vote conservative, at least in this country.
How about the florida democrats don't run shitty ex republican candidates and actually manages a decent campaign for once in their fucking lives? Nikki Freid is right there and they did her dirty. We don't need Taylor swift, we need someone who gives some modicum of a shit about florida. For being a huge "swing state" they sure don't seem to think we're worth the effort
- Every year, it gets tougher and tougher to take a stand on the coastal states. Literally. And, Florida's gonna be the first to pull an Atlantis. 🤷🏼‍♂️
  
  What do you mean? It's harder to justify improving the political situation in coastal states because of global warming?
Not improving your political stances, but just benefiting from a popular artist? It's the Democrats wildest dreams!
- Offer nothing of substance, get more votes!
remember on election night in 2016 when HRC was doing a preemptive victory lap in BlUe TeXaS while PA, OH, MI and all of the other "firewall states" that were supposed to guarantee her an easy win turned red? Let's not go looking for treasure up our own assholes and instead let's ensure that the easy wins actually happen.
How long until Republican gun nuts inadvertently end up supporting Taylor Swift by buying a CD album of her music just to shoot it?
- Oh right. Now she needs to go on the list with Bud Light and whatever else.
Damn. Never imagined a world where Taylor Swift could influence politics. Every little bit helps I guess.
Betteridges law. So the answer is no, Taylor Swift won’t tilt Florida blue, unfortunately.
- Til
Wildest? Really?
- That was the author's attempt to quote a Taylor Swift lyric.
"Gee, we never considered how toxic Republican politics are living in a state where you can't even mention Black History Month until Taylor Swift told me to register to vote!"
- Cool, we'll take it.
Meh. Imagine having such a weak political stance that you need to rely on artists to do your political campaigns. The dems need to pick themselves up if they want some real gains, not these half assed attempts.
- Imagine having such a fucking weak-minded electorate that some trendy twat (or a career criminal who spray paints his face orange) sways the course of politics.
  
  Yeah. It’s sad honestly
- Celebrities have endorsed and platform Ed for candidates since we live been holding elections. This isn’t a sign of a weak campaign. It’s a sign of anything that will help.
  
  Yeah. But claiming that "It's the democrats' wildest dream" makes it sound like they're relying on this shit instead of actually properly going in the offensive and attacking the GOP for the shit they do. The dems just sit around and hope shit falls out of the sky half the time
- Nobody said they were relying on it.
  
  Then what the heck are they doing. Because to me it looks like all the democrats are doing is laying a red carpet for republican populist/extremist propaganda all the damn time. They never go in the offensive, they just do weak ass defensive damage control.
Any excuse to run to the right.
If they keep screwing around with that window, it's going to break.
4chan loves Taytay. Use this mememagic to your advantage.
- Frankly I don't give half a shit what 4chan loves, personally, because 4chan also loves producing and distributing CSAM.

124 comments