Taylor Swift has always been pretty tight lipped on her political stance and who she supports. Most people have believed and speculated that Swift leans more left, but never truly spoke out. In a lengthy Instagram post, Swift spoke out on the upcoming election on November 6th, and urged her of age fans to vote.
Swift spoke out about supporting candidates that align with her beliefs in accordance to LGBTQ equality, gender rights, systemic racism, and human rights.
"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! 🗳😃🌈"
In the 24 hour period following the post, Suzanne Guthrie of vote.org told BuzzFeed News that voter registration spiked both nationwide and then also in Tennessee, Taylor's home state. "We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since T. Swift's post," said Guthrie. According to CNN, during the whole month of September, 190,178 new voters registered through vote.org and 56,669 in August.
There is no sure fire way to say that Taylor Swift inspired the voter hike, but sources are pointing towards Taylor definitely helping in registration numbers.
When sitting President Donald Trump was asked about Taylor's stance, he said that he likes Taylor Swift's music about "25% less now." If you have not yet registered to vote, are over the age of 18, and are a legal United States Citizen, head on over to vote.org to make sure you are ready for Election Day this November. It takes less than two minutes to register and is crucial to our political system, whatever your stance is.
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