By Susan Williams, We the People Person
“They describe us as a bunch of 12-year-old girls,” says Annie Wu Henry, campaign manager for Swifties for Kamala, a coalition of fans giggling and smiling their way to election day.
“As if being a 12-year-old girl is bad,” she adds.
Point taken. Especially when 34,000 of you show up on your first organizing call, and one is Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carole King. King told of how she dispelled her own fear of campaigning door-to-door before she sang a few bars of Swift’s Shake It Off. “I’m excited about Kamala because so many people are excited about Kamala.”
“Protecting American democracy by working together to ensure Vice President Kamala Harris is elected our country's next president!” is the group's mantra, and they offered concert-style merchandise, a newsletter, a granular door-knocking program called Indivisible, and a voter registration drive with a prize of two Taylor Swift Era concert tickets, natch.
“A single tweet started this,” explained Emerald Medrano. A sparkly blue “47” graced her hand (there’s a Taylor numerology), and bands of beaded friendship bracelets (Swift wampum) graced each wrist. But it took off because Swifties are battle-ready, organized, and computer-savvy. They believe in their power and show up for each other.
“Kamala makes me feel safe," said Medrano. "She’s a fearless leader.” Words that could describe the woman who binds them, although Swift is not affiliated with the group.
Medrano got her sister Ginger to design a T-shirt, tote bag, baseball cap, and stickers. They say “In My Voting Era,” a play on Swift’s 149-show, five-continent Eras Tour. ”Boom!” $800 of campaign-supporting merchandise sold on the call.
Each organizer introduced herself by name, and since Swiftie is a gender-neutral term, her pronouns. They are fluent in Taylor Swift lyrics and use them as a shorthand to describe an idea or a vibe.
“We can do it, one friendship bracelet at a time,” said political director April Glick Pulito, encouraging listeners to subscribe to the K4S newsletter for events and updates. She advised Swifties to "do what you do best, whether it's talking about voting, knocking on doors, or donating." At the end of the call, $144,000 was raised in small gifts.
Guest speakers were instructed to begin by noting their favorite Taylor Swift song or album. “What I love best about Swifties,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), “is they know how to stand up to bullies.” (Karma is Warren’s favorite album.)
As hearts and smiley faces floated up from the bottom of the screen, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), a mother and teacher, introduced herself as “the first woman and first queer person to represent Vermont in Congress.” She spoke about the issues at stake. “Friends don’t try to trick you,” she said of the opposition.
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), a dad, said his favorite song was Never Grow Old, making the point his daughters “got the fandom from me.”
“If Taylor’s music gives you that sense of community, use that to get up for the challenge. Take civic action. Put the signs up, feel the love, the joy, the energy.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who saw Swift in concert twice, thanked the group for “answering the call to duty.” New S4K volunteers numbered 2,500. She stressed the importance of the freedoms at stake and electing down-ballot candidates. She described New York as a battleground state. “We can not give anyone space to sit this one out.”
Enter Indivisible, which offers virtual calls and training for its neighbor-to-neighbor method of building collective purpose and creating change. You register and get ten addresses of people who live right around you who might need a little push to get to the polls. It’s described as twice as effective as traditional canvassing.
Swifties for Kamala left no stone unturned, even addressing those living outside the country and provided instruction on how people who live abroad can vote.
By the end of the evening, the event was trending on X (formerly Twitter). Fan Out’s Daley Gruen announced a get-out-the-vote sweepstakes turning super fans into super organizers. Swifties were encouraged to check their voter registration; 41,000 of them did. Then earn more entries when a friend checks their voter registration. And 27,000 of them did that. The prize? A sense of accomplishment and a chance to win two stage-side floor seats to the post-election Eras Tour in Toronto, plus $3,000 in expenses.
Drop the mike.
By Susan Williams, We the People Person
I am sharing this post with all the Swifty fans I know. and I have already gone on the Swifties website to order campaign stuff for my grandkids to wear. Thanks, Susan, for sharing.
Love love love this post!!! ❤️