Taylor Swift Makes Last Ditch Election Day Plea: ‘You Have to Go and Make Change by Voting’

Pop star Taylor Swift took to Instagram to urge her millions of fans to vote Tuesday in what will likely be her final midterm election plea.

“What is today? Tuesday. What was it that everyone is supposed to do today?” Swift kicks off the video jokingly. “What was it? Oh yeah, you gotta go vote today.”

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OMG she is beautifulllllllllllll❤️😍 @taylorswift

A post shared by Quang🇻🇳T.S Is So Gorgeous❤️ (@lnq.swifties) on Nov 6, 2018 at 2:44am PST

The “I Knew You Were Trouble” songstress said she was inspirited by the level of engagement a “new generation” of voters were had demonstrated leading up to Tuesday’s election. “I’m seeing a lot of underestimation of young voters and this new generation who now have the right to vote just in the last couple of years, but these are people who grew up post 9/11, they grew up with school shooting drills at their schools,” Swift told her fans. “These are people who want to vote.”

“It’s not enough to just want change. It’s not enough to just want to vote,” she continued. “You have to go and make change by voting and today is your opportunity to do that. I promise you it feels so wonderful to exercise that right that you have.”

Taylor Swift, whose political leanings had long been shrouded in secrecy, surprised the political world by endorsing Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) Democrat Senate opponent Phil Bredesen in October. “I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” Swift told her nearly 113 million Instagram followers. “I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”

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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

“I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love,” she continued. “Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn.”

While Swift’s newfound Democrat activist may have caused a spike in Tennessee voter registration, polls show her endorsement may not be enough to catapult Bredesen to victory. A RealClearPolitics poll average shows Blackburn leading her Democrat rival by 49.2-44.