Celebrities have always impacted how the general population behaves, including the types of clothes people wear, the movies they like, the food they eat, the places they go, etc… With the presidential election coming up, it’s been questioned whether or not celebrity endorsements should impact the election.
Celebrity endorsements should impact elections because celebrities have massive followings and a lot of influence over their fans, making it easy for them to bring important issues to large amounts of people’s attention. Their endorsement can make fans want to be engaged with the election process. Young voters will be more inclined to pay attention to politics, with their favorite celebrities expressing interest in political issues. They will be more interested in finding out who’s running for president and what they stand for.
Celebrities endorsing certain candidates can give those candidates free publicity, help save campaign costs and get significant exposure to the public. The candidates for the election rely heavily on the media. Celebrities give candidates an advantage by attracting the media.
Since the 2020 election, Taylor Swift has boosted public participation by discussing politics online. Her endorsement of Kamala Harris prompted over 400,000 people to register to vote through vote.gov the following day.
Things like that could have a big impact on swing states which have a greater overall impact on the outcome of the election. It should matter because any way of getting more people involved in caring about politics is good. The more that people begin to care the more they research candidates and that helps the overall outcome of the election.
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey helped Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton. Celebrity endorsement could push less enthusiastic voters to cast a ballot. If a celebrity is viewed as trustworthy by a voter and they endorse a candidate, it can help with the credibility of that candidate in the eyes of the fans. If celebs did not have any input about politics there could be a large number of people who would not care about the election and its candidates because they would see it as an unimportant issue if some of their favorite public figures were not showing interest in the election.
Celebrity endorsements should make an impact on the election because they play a big role in attracting voter interest and increasing political engagement. This strengthens democratic participation and gathers informed voters. If celebrities are bringing positive thoughts and helping strengthen democracy, they have the right and a perfect opportunity to share their thoughts on the election.
