How Celebrities Could Influence Presidential Election: Harvard

A study by Harvard University found that public opinions of people like Taylor Swift, Trevor Noah, and Kerry Washington may have an impact on presidential elections.

Knewz.com has learned that this effect, when imposed, can influence the political scene without these celebrities hurting their careers.

“While some polling shows that people claim they aren’t influenced by celebrity voices when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence indicates that these voices are incredibly powerful,” the survey from Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation observed.

The Ash Center drew these observations from the effects of popular personalities on other initiatives:

“This potential impact is why nonprofits, candidates, and elected officials are increasingly seeking ways to engage celebrities.”

To assimilate this data, researchers spoke to 15 managers, publicists, nonprofit partners, and famous people and questioned them about their experiences with “activations aimed at promoting civic participation.”

“They can serve as surrogates for political candidates, helping to ‘rally the base’ or reach new audiences,” the study found.

“Additionally, there is evidence that celebrities can help with candidate fundraising, attracting large crowds to political events or volunteer shifts, which draws press attention.”

One such example was when Taylor Swift collaborated with Vote.org in 2018. Just because Swift was embroiled in the initiative, 250,000 people – supposedly all Swifties – registered to vote within 72 hours.

In 2020, Swift was seen to endorse the Joe Biden–Kamala Harris duo – and while there has been no evidence of her having any effect on the Democratic camp – the duo won. 

In a recent tour through Poland, she appeared to display a positive attitude toward Harris.

According to musician manager Dawn White, these nuances among pop stars may even benefit their public personas as they create “a connection based on values, which humanizes an artist and a celebrity in a way that the audience then feels like they know you.”

Republicans, known for keeping their politics away from showbiz, seem to have cottoned onto the idea first by accepting Donald Trump into their fold (and making him president) and then using rapper Kid Rock, wrestler Hulk Hogan, and country singer Lee Greenwood among others to promote their political agenda. 

In the same vein, personalities like Beyonce, Megan the Stallion, and Charli XCX have thrown their weight behind Harris’s campaign.

In the way of explanation, study author Ashley Spillane, says “Right now, young voters have relatively low levels of trust in a lot of leaders and institutions, including traditional news media—but celebrities are often a rare exception.”

Motivating her claim, Spillane says that “despite record-breaking voter participation levels in recent elections, the United States still ranks 31st out of 50 developed nations in terms of eligible voter participation.”

The answer to this is in the way people view voting.

“Voting should be the trendy, cool thing to do and the study shows there is evidence that when people feel this way about voting, they participate,” Spillane concluded.

Dave Malyon Dave Malyon is a writer and reporter for Knewz.com, covering breaking news.