
Voters, not celebrity endorsements, decide election outcomes
Like newspaper editorial endorsements, celebrity endorsements simply don’t have the cachet they once did
As is well-known, Ottawa and Washington, D.C. are Hollywood for ugly people.
Less-known: Using good-looking celebrities to win votes doesn’t always work.
Sometimes it even backfires.
Case in point: Kamala Harris, who is days away from watching her opponent take the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol building. Throughout the Democrat’s 100-day presidential campaign — for which this writer volunteered, full disclosure — Harris was notable for one thing above all: Celebrity endorsements.
One minute after the debate between Harris and the Republican’s Donald Trump concluded, in fact, the most powerful person in show business posted a statement on social media, endorsing Harris.
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight,” wrote music superstar Taylor Swift. “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Swift accompanied her post with a fetching shot of herself holding one of her cats. It was an unsubtle shot at the dumb remarks earlier made by Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, about Democratic “childless cat ladies.” Swift even signed off her post as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.”
Swift’s post “caused a major stir,” wrote Billboard. “A tremendous shot of adrenaline to (Harris’) campaign,” the New York Times declared in a three-byline story (not opinion column). Swift’s endorsement “could mobilize first-time and younger voters given her intense fandom,” enthused CBC News. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell declared it “the most important celebrity endorsement I’ve ever seen.”
Well, no, actually. Harris went on to decisively lose to Trump, who himself could only scrounge up endorsements from losers like Kid Rock, Mel Gibson and Joe Exotic. You know, the guy from Tiger King, who offered his support from a jail cell.