In the end, even Taylor Swift couldn`t save her. Despite 284million followers across social media, endorsement from the world`s most celebrated pop princess wasn`t enough to get Kamala Harris over the line.
Not that Swifty was alone in her efforts to propel the Democrat candidate into the Whitehouse. A glitzy line-up of stars including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Cardi B, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, and Jennifer Lopez were all team Kamala. And didn`t they let us know about it.
But when it came to Trump they couldn`t shake him off. In fact, even bleeding heart Oprah Winfrey failed to get the message across. Self-endorsing her evangelical status in a dazzling white trouser suit, the talk show legend issued a final election warning to voters as she joined Harris for a last rally before the polls. It didn`t touch the sides.
And why should it? Peachy-skinned celebs may beam from billboards, coaxing us into buying wrinkle-busting beauty creams. Just as smooth-talking screen stars purr persuasively on TV adverts to promote brands of filter coffee. But that`s business. When the future of your country is at stake, a tuneless Katy Perry belting out Firework at a Harris lovefest clearly doesn`t cut it.
Harris`s crashing defeat not only illustrates that an impressive contacts book is no guarantee for election success. It can actually be entirely counter-intuitive. After all, what right have entitled, self-absorbed, breathtakingly wealthy celebrities to prick the electoral conscience? Who needs to be lectured by Winfrey`s apocalyptic narrative (“‘If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again.”?)
Preening egotists may think they know best. But clearly they don`t. Voters rejected Harris because she didn`t cut it – on the economy, immigration, low taxation, education, home security and more. She failed to address the concerns of ordinary voters and instead trained her lens on her opponent`s failings.
As Mrs Thatcher famously said in her speech to the Conservative conference back in 1978, ” We want to be elected so that we can do better, not because we could not possibly do worse. ” Yet on the issue of her own merits, Kamala and her spangly pals all failed to make the point.
Aspirant Americans wanted to hear how their lives could change for the better. Little wonder that given his many – many failings – voters still felt stirred by Trump`s determined narrative to fix America. How could they not be irritated and insulted by celebrities who felt they knew better. And who cast aspersions on the morality of the electorate for choosing Trump (Jennifer Aniston called a vote for Harris a “vote for sanity and human decency”. )
But celebrity endorsement can be `ick` for other reasons too. Leading to suspicion whether the sincerity of the message is a smokescreen for fundamental ambition. Indeed celebrity endorsement so often smacks of naked self-promotion it`s hard to believe any of it is predicated on fundamental experience for research.
That`s not to say all star-studded platforming is anathema to politics. Not least getting people off the couch to come out and vote. When Taylor Swift encouraged her followers to register to vote in the 2024 election – her subsequent Instagram story with a link to the appropriate voting website drew 337,826 visitors. Not bad for a woman who kicks around in sparkly boots and thrums to the tune of her broken love affairs. There is, however, a difference between urging people to go to the polls and telling them where to mark the cross.
So when it comes to being told what to do, let`s hope Harris`s defeat will put an end to star-studded endorsement. It`s patronising, tiring and speaks only to the mirror in which A-listers shine their sparkly reflection. Democracy prevailed and Oprah failed. Sounds like the start of a new celebrity campaign.
