NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Music superstar Taylor Swift announced Sunday she’s voting for Tennessee’s Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, breaking her long-standing refusal to discuss anything politics.
“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,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post .
Swift has faced criticism for not speaking about political issues despite having a global platform. Yet in 2017, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the “silence breakers” for her countersuit against a radio DJ who was fired after allegedly groping her before a concert. Swift won the lawsuit in a verdict that awarded her $1, which according to the suit served as “an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.”
The pop star — who spent later years growing up in Tennessee — also slammed Republican candidate and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her lengthy post on Sunday, citing Blackburn’s opposition to certain LGBTQ rights and voting against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.
“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,” Swift wrote.
Blackburn’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
Swift said she’s not only voting for the former Tennessee governor for Senate, but also Democrat Jim Cooper for the House.
However, Swift didn’t acknowledge Bredesen’s recent endorsement of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, but said people may never find a candidate or party with whom they agree completely on every issue.
“Thank you for the kind words … 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,” Bredesen tweeted Sunday in response to Swift’s post.
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
I look forward to Trump’s tweet labeling Swift a stupid, despicable, very bad person.
4chan is having a fit because their ideal “conservative woman” isn’t who they thought she was.
They will have to start a new thread to support “Incels who can no longer fap to Taylor Swift.”
Swift encourages supporters to write his name in the blank space.
Shrewd move by Bredesen to change the subject in TN away from Kavanaugh. There was some movement towards Blackburn over the last week, which may have been news cycle noise or it may be for real. We won’t know until polls are taken 2 weeks from now. By making a splash move like this, Bredesen is accelerating the rate at which Kavanaugh departs the news cycle.
Taylor Swift is a bit of an icon in TN. She has universal name recognition and conservative whites had claimed her as their icon (for some odd reason) because she hadn’t really commented on politics before. This has made a bigger splash than I think even Bredesen anticipated. Good for him.
On another note, Heidi Heitkamp has been campaigning very aggressively since announcing her Kavanaugh vote. An GOP poll by a private polling group has her down 4 points (this is per John Weaver, a former Kasich official) and notes that Heidi is doing especially well in the larger populated areas of ND. With a load of money, a likability and personality advantage over Cramer, plus some good issues splits on the ACA and Tariffs, Heidi has a much better chance than people think of winning re-election. This unpublished private poll does also match in part what a local ND pollster noted, that Heidi is ahead of her 2016 performance in Fargo and Grand Forks, which will supply 27% of the vote (this pollster had the race a tie). If you average all of those data points, 4-6 points seems right, but that can change in a hurry in a small state like ND. In addition, Cramer would need to win the Bismarck area by more than 10 points to win the race. It’s not clear to me that he is running that well in Bismarck. We’ll see, but with about 28 days to go, my money is on Heidi in a head to head race where she is not having to go back to DC.
I would also add that if you look at the big picture, from the beginning of the year to now, most of the Democratic held seats that the GOP has targeted have drifted away from them, while TN and TX drifted on to the big board. That shows the trend is towards Democrats even on a map that was heavily tilted towards the GOP.
Control of the Senate hinges on the following 4 races: ND, MO, TN, TX. In all 4 races, the GOP has a PVI advantage and the Dems have better candidate quality and a better issue mix. If the Dems win 2 of these 4 races, they likely win outright control of the Senate based on trends in other races. That’s a good spot for team blue to be in.
I think I can live with the disappointment of people like those in the screenshot of this tweet:
https://twitter.com/__dso/status/1049121769158844417
Edited to add the direct link to the screenshot:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Do86ryVVsAAEcAX.jpg