Before we get into it, and we will, I’d like to point out that today is National Voter Registration Day, which you may already know. I also want to emphasize that it takes about 5 minutes to register to vote (or check your status), and even less time to text your friend group and make sure they are too. Even more importantly, I want to share who I am voting for, and why (and I promise I am going to get into closet clean outs).
In the 2016 election, over 94 million eligible voters did not participate. Donald Trump won the electoral college with 63 million votes, which means that 27.3 percent of eligible voters decided the election (sort of). US elections are not decided by total votes, but by the electoral college, and even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Trump won in key swing states, and therefore, the Presidency.
Many of us remember what it felt like waking up on November 9, 2016. I cried, a lot. I couldn’t understand how Donald Trump could be elected president of the United States, and that was on me. I was ignorant. Hillary Clinton wasn’t my favorite candidate (though I was excited at the prospect of our first woman president) but I canvassed for her, phone-banked for her, posted relentlessly on my social media for her, and obviously voted for her. I think many of us woke up on November 9 thinking, what else could we have done?
What we face now is far more dangerous and frightening than in 2016. We are sliding closer to an autocracy, and more Americans are apparently ok with that. While I think Kamala Harris is too moderate on certain issues, I think she will make a good president. She has been, and will continue to fight for women’s bodily autonomy (and as a result, our lives). She has been a key advocate for childcare issues. She supports an assault weapons ban. She will defend democracy. She undoubtedly has my vote. Like I did in 2016, I am doing what I can to make sure she gets elected, and while I live in a true blue state, I am focusing my efforts on key swing states. I’ve also signed up with RippleVote.org which helps give you customized scripts and talking points so you can talk to your friends about what’s on the ballot where they live.
I want you to know I am voting for Kamala Harris (for the majority of you this is not news) because we need to normalize talking about who we are voting for (and why). The internet lost their minds when Taylor Swift finally endorsed Kamala Harris, but as Clara pointed out:
Indeed, what Swift did — post one (1) Instagram photo, share one (1) link on her story, and invite people to register to vote at the VMAs — has satisfied the vast majority of those who were clamoring for her to speak out, to say anything. The burden, then, is not high, especially when you consider just how huge Swift's platform is.
This is (and has been) one of my biggest frustrations with influencers. I don’t know why we are ok with how they use our attention to sell beauty products, wellness supplements, and clothing (and mostly to women), while staying completely silent one of the most important issues of our lifetime. It is simply not enough to encourage your hundreds of thousands or millions of followers to “vote.”
I struggle to find an argument that what influencers say on this stuff doesn’t matter, especially when you consider that it’s a billion dollar industry. As Emily Amick wrote recently “according to a Harvard study, celebrity endorsements do actually matter…As a reminder, the 2000 election was decided by 537 votes.”
I’m not saying influencers are celebrities, though some would be considered that based on their social media following alone. But when you realize what is at stake in this moment, I struggle to find a reasonable argument that anyone has a right to stay silent, especially when you have a massive audience that you’re sharing a whole lot of other personal things with.
I understand that it can be hard to talk about this stuff online (or in person), I spent 10 years doing it on Instagram. But what we will suffer under another Trump presidency will be far worse. Taylor Swift isn’t going to save us, neither are influencers, but maybe we can all just do the bare minimum and say what side we’re on and why. At this point we really can’t afford not to, lives are quite literally on the line.
Ok, let’s get back to closet clean outs….
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