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I Wouldn't Worry About Taylor Swift's Effect on 2024

AP Photo/Ed Zurga

Taylor Swift is easily the most popular celebrity alive today. She's equally fueled by fame and infamy, and to this day I'm not sure which is worth more. 

As I've written in the past, Swift isn't something that can be ignored. She is everywhere. She's in the movie theater, on your radio, and her face is constantly on magazine covers. Even this NFL season has been a Swift-fest thanks to her relationship with Kansas City Chief tight end Travis Kelce. 

This is all fairly annoying by itself but what makes it worse is that Swift has a bad habit of dipping her toes too far into the political realm from time to time, and true to pop-culture form, Swift is a tried and true Democrat, willing to trumpet whatever cause the Democrats have going today. 

As I said in a previous article, this has gotten conservatives questioning what to do about Swift. As of that writing and of this one, the only solution I have to offer is time. Swift is burning very, very brightly, and things that burn that hot eventually go out faster than usual. Swift's star will fade eventually, just give it time. 

(READ: The Conservative Solution to the Taylor Swift Problem)

But this does pose a problem. It's unclear how much more time Swift's clock has before that starts to happen, and at this point, people are wondering how Swift's influence will influence the 2024 election. As my colleague Mike Miller wrote, a poll was recently released showing that Swift could influence voters to vote how she directs them: 

In a poll conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 18 percent of registered voters said they'd be more likely to vote for a candidate backed by Swift, with 17 percent saying they'd be less likely to vote for a candidate backed by the pop phenom, which could bode badly for Joe Biden. 

Fifty-five percent would be neither more nor less likely to be influenced by Swift's choice. Among all respondents, 45 percent said they were fans of the singer, and 54 percent said they were not. Only 6 percent said they were not familiar with Swift. (How I wish I were among that 6 percent.)

I by no means want to impress upon you that Swift won't have some influence on the election. I think she will. Her die-hard fans are something akin to a cult and I wish I was being hyperbolic when I say that. Even some of her biggest fans find themselves claiming no relation to the people willing to literally cast spells at anyone who dares mock their queen. 

But the question remains on the table. Will Swift have an effect, or at least a major one, on the 2024 election? 

No. Not by herself. 

While Swift's die-hards will definitely vote for whoever she says to before jumping off a bridge because she suggested it, the brutal truth is that Swift can't put food on people's tables or roofs over their heads. To be sure, Swift has enough money to shame the GDPs of some smaller countries and probably Greece, but she'll never go around buying people houses and food. 

The thing that allows people to do that is a solid economy, good job security, and lower inflation. Swift might be an economy unto herself, but she's not your economy. 

It's important to note that celebrities have been influencing people for generations, but celebrity support doesn't mean a guaranteed win. Even Taylor Swift failed to get Phil Bredesen elected in his race against Marsha Blackburn in 2018. While her popularity is far greater now than it was then, other celebrities who were at the peak of their popularity and endorsed candidates have also failed. 

I need not remind you that all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't Hillary Clinton elected. In fact, celebrity endorsements almost became a mark of unelectability in the eyes of some.

But ultimately it comes down to immediate need. People need a better economy, cheaper gas, food prices, and most of all, stability. Stability isn't something Taylor Swift is known for. 

At the end of the day, why would I choose a guy picked by a woman who has made her entire career off of picking the wrong guy? 

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