Celebrity support for Kamala Harris didn’t matter. Can they change voters?

vice president Kamala HarrisFailure to win the presidential election has cast doubt Democrats” tactics, including increased celebrity endorsements, that seemed to have little effect on the final outcome.

Harris gained early momentum when she received a tacit endorsement from pop star Charli XCX, sparking a week of pundits and news programs talking about “BRAT” and the significance of the pop culture moment that message spawned.

This trend continued over the next 90 days as Harris received support from a variety of celebrities, including Taylor SwiftMegan Thee Stallion, Bruce Springsteen, George Clooney, Billie EilishCardi B, Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Mark Hamill and LeBron Jamesamong others.

president-elect Donald Trump has also received its share of celebrity endorsements such as actor Kevin Sorbo, Hulk Hogan, NASCAR star Danica Patrick, YouTuber Jake Paul, UFC CEO Dana White and podcast star. Joe Rogan.

However, Democrats emphasized the power and impact such an endorsement would have on their campaign. News outlets in particular reinforced this when Taylor Swift supported Harris and urged her fans to make sure they were registered to vote, more than 400,000 people did.

New York Post Op-ed columnist Kirsten Fleming criticized Harris’ campaign and the celebrities who endorsed her, arguing that Harris “said a few words and then let the famous person do the heavy lifting.”

“Even though Harris’s slogan was ‘We’re not going back,’ the campaign went in the opposite direction, taking the DeLorean back to 2008,” Fleming wrote. “That was when Hollywood stars meant something here.

“Barack Obama was on top, and using Julia Roberts or George Clooney in the campaign meant blinding an important audience: People magazine readers in Central America,” she continued. “Before Democratic Party completely abandoned the working class. I talked to them. Told them they were racist or bigoted for not putting pronouns in their bio.”

Instead, Fleming touted the impact that Trump’s support had, based on podcasters and streamers who interviewed Trump and helped bring it online directly to millions of subscribers and viewers.

Fleming argued that these celebrities were “a little less elitist” than those promoted by Democrats, marking another example of how the left is failing its voting base.

Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation addressed this issue in a study released in August called “Celebrities Strengthening Our Culture of Democracy,” which examined the impact of celebrity participation on civic engagement.

“Today, many celebrities are engaged in efforts to increase civic interest, engagement, and participation while fostering goodwill among their fans,” lead study author Ashley Spillane wrote in the introduction.

“This study focuses specifically on what celebrities are doing and can do to promote voter participation, including efforts to educate and mobilize voters. Although imperfect, the impact of these efforts can be measured by examining whether they motivate people to take action to vote. , such as registering to vote, requesting a ballot, and voting.”

Ultimately, Spillane concluded that celebrity endorsements may not have swayed voters on how to vote, but it did lead to greater engagement overall, a point she echoed. Newsweek in an email.

“We can certainly debate the value and impact of celebrity endorsements of candidates, especially in close elections when there are so many factors at play,” Spillane said. Newsweek. “However, there is compelling evidence that celebrities do have a real impact on promoting general, nonpartisan civic engagement (encouraging voter registration, poll worker registration, etc.)

“Influential voices, brands and cultural leaders truly have the opportunity to make voting more accessible and drive excitement and deeper participation in the election, no matter which candidate ultimately wins.”

However, she added: “Questions about the impact of celebrity endorsements on the 2024 election will continue until we have more voter data. People want to know if celebrities can make a voter change their mind about who to vote for, and the answer is, we don’t know – no one has studied it.

“We’ll have to wait for the data to see if this leads to increased turnout, but the data we looked at in 2018, 2020 and 2022 indicates that celebrity promotion of civic engagement leads to higher turnout,” she said.

“More broadly, when you look at celebrity participation in civic engagement, their impact depends on their authenticity and relevance to their audience. When celebrities understand their fans and community of followers, they know what information and resources will best serve them and what issues matter most to them.

“With that in mind, prioritizing celebrities with ties to specific states or communities is certainly a smart approach, and one we’ve seen both presidential campaigns try this year.”

The U.S. ranks 31st out of 50 developed countries in participation rates among eligible voters, Spillane said, warning that lagging voter engagement and growing distrust in political institutions are “weakening our democracy.”

Many noted a clear drop in the number of votes cast The 2024 election, compared to 2020, marks the highest election turnout in the last century as a percentage of the population eligible to vote, at 65.9 percent.

Analysis Washington Post Using data from the Associated Press, it found expected turnout nationwide would be about 65 percent, meaning any apparent gap would likely disappear in the coming days as states like California, Arizona and Nevada continue to report backlogs.