2024-02-13 05:17:38
Superstar Taylor Swift’s support could tip the balance in favor of incumbent Joe Biden in the US presidential election. Swift has “enormous appeal in target groups that cannot be reached with traditional media,” said US campaign expert Yussi Pick in an APA interview. “If it’s just 40,000 votes, that makes a difference,” he said, referring to Republican Donald Trump’s narrow victory in the 2016 election.
It is not just a conspiracy theory or a media phenomenon, emphasized Pick. The singer has “an impact in the real world” with her positioning, he said, referring to the impact of her previous calls for voter registration. These would have led to a “spike” in the number of registrations.
As further evidence of the pop singer’s influence on the political mood, Pick saw the fact that “a right-wing mob targeted her” and spread the conspiracy theory that the final game of the US football league NFL (“Super Bowl”) was in favor of the Teams of her friend Trevor Kelce were pushed so that incumbent Biden would also win the election. “That is absurd.” Rather, these Trump supporters should ask themselves “whether they have taken a wrong turn” when they agitate against one of the most popular players in the US national sport, American football, and one of the country’s most successful singers.
Swift got her start in (more conservative) country music and is popular among both Democrats and Republicans, Pick emphasized. He sees the risk of damage to the singer’s image as a result of supporting Biden as rather manageable. He doesn’t believe that Swift could make hardcore Trump supporters reconsider their position. “Other deradicalization measures would have to take effect.”
Pick believes Swift could particularly appeal to “those who are dissatisfied with politics” and bring them back. In this regard, he referred to the high hurdles for exercising the right to vote in the USA. The presidential elections traditionally take place on a Tuesday – a working day. You also have to be registered in the voter register in order to be able to cast your vote.
The former campaign employee of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attaches little importance to the current situation in the election race. “The majority of voters have only just begun to realize that Trump is back. This has not yet been reflected in the polls,” he said, referring to the poor results for incumbent Biden. In addition, then-President Barack Obama’s values were “just as bad” a year before his re-election in 2012.
The legal proceedings against Trump could play a big role, said Pick. Surveys show that a conviction would have a negative impact on his chances of winning. Trump’s remaining party rival Nikki Haley is also relying on this. She hopes to be able to continue “until one of the verdicts is made.” But if she loses the primary election in her home state of South Carolina next week, “I find it difficult to imagine her being able to continue.” At the moment it looks more like Haley is sealing her end in the Republican Party with her harsh attacks on Trump.
According to Pick, “one issue” is the age of the incumbent. But Biden is “not as senile as the right-wing media tries to portray,” said the expert. He pointed out that the Democrat stuttered as a child and had repeated verbal oopses throughout his political career. The fact that he decided to run again was probably due to his political successes around the 2022 midterm elections. He “should have taken care of a successor sooner,” said Pick. However, a contested primary election process would not have been “the right decision” for the presidential party.
While the Republicans have taken a “gamble” with their recent rejection of the migration deal offered by the Democrats in Congress, the Middle East conflict could have a negative impact on the presidential party. In the swing state of Michigan, for example, there is a very large Muslim community that, out of frustration with US support for Israel, is not voting and could cost Biden crucial votes. As in the last two elections, the “Blue Wall” from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania will be “extremely relevant” for the election outcome. Pick named Arizona and Nevada as well as the southern east coast states Georgia and North Carolina as other states in contention, while Florida is now “firmly on the Republican side.”
When Biden’s supposed top campaign aide Taylor Swift comes to Vienna for three concerts at the beginning of August, she will hardly have to think about the presidential election. “The election campaign actually doesn’t start until September,” said Pick. Everything that one remembers from the 2016 election campaign, such as the video with Trump’s vulgar remarks or the letter from FBI chief James Comey about Clinton’s email affair, happened afterwards. “It will be the same this time too. It will be a long year.”
(The interview was conducted by Stefan Vospernik/APA)
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