With the 2016 presidential election only two years away, GOP party leaders have begun the search for a formidable Republican candidate. After considering candidates that would have popularity equal to that of likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the GOP announced its support for Taylor Swift.
“We have the utmost confidence that Ms. Swift will easily gain voters’ support,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus said. “We have been in contact with Ms. Swift since she released [her latest album] 1989. ‘Blank Space’ is my new anthem.”
Though Swift has no experience in politics, she has showed her support for conservative values through her music. 1989 is an obvious ode to the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The song “All You Had To Do Was Stay” mourns the end of the great Reagan era. Nonetheless, the album maintains an upbeat tone due to the anticipation of another Republican presidency. In “Wildest Dreams,” she expresses her excitement over George H. W. Bush’s election, which marked the third consecutive Republican presidency.
Prior to 1989, Swift has repeatedly expressed strong Republican leanings. At age 14, she moved from liberal-dominated Pennsylvania to the conservative hearth of Tennessee, inspiring her to title her 2012 album Red. Many conservative pundits have argued that she released Red in order to send a pro-Romney message to her many younger fans during the 2012 election. “There is no doubt that ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ was written about President Obama,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “Ms. Swift, like many other Americans, wanted to see a Republican president in 2012.”
With a young female nominee such as Swift, the GOP prospects for the 2016 election have never looked better. “I never miss a beat. I’m lightning on my feet,” said Swift at a recent political rally in Times Square on New Years Eve. When asked by pundit Ryan Seacrest for a response to her competitors’ allegations that she was too inexperienced, Swift stated, “I’m just going to shake it off.”
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