Joy Is A Strategy: How Kamala Harris & Taylor Swift Are Redefining Power & Influence

(MENAFN- PRovoke) When Taylor Swift formally – finally – endorsed presidential candidate Kamala Harris last week in an Instagram post timed to land immediately after the first Harris/Trump televised debate, it was the culmination of an extraordinary summer for the two women in their own fields, and confirmation that the last few weeks of the US presidential campaigns will look and feel very different to previous races.

As a Brit, I'm no expert in US Politics – I'll leave that to the boss, Paul Holmes, who has written a brilliant analysis of the role of influencers in this election – but I do know a cultural moment when I see one, and Swift (and her global band of Swifties) publicly backing Harris and Tim Walz (and the blue ticket in return wholeheartedly embracing that endorsement), was A Moment.

Swift – as you would expect from the lyricist of 'The Tortured Poets Society' – always chooses her words on social media with extreme care. Having not previously commented on Trump's Truth Social posting in August of an AI deepfake of her supposedly endorsing his candidacy, she was measured but firm in her Instagram post to 284 million followers, stating:“The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”

She went on to explain why she was supporting Harris/Walz, saying Harris was“a warrior” for the causes she holds dear, including women's rights, and“we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos”.

Tim Walz was in a live post-debate interview on MSNBC when the post went up and was clearly delighted, not least by Swift signing off as a“childless cat lady”, a reference to one of Trump running mate JD Vance's many unfortunate comments on the campaign trail. Eras Tour-style“Harris-Walz 2024” friendship bracelets were immediately available on KamalaHarris, and the campaign team has had much fun playing with Taylor Swift lyrics in their social media and comms over the past week.

Trump's reaction to Swift's actual political endorsement was typically petulant, posting“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” in raging all-caps on his Truth Social feed, which prompted another flurry of donations and high-profile endorsements for his political rival and support for the pesky pop star.

Swift and Harris embody something even more influential than“calm over chaos” though. In a political era which continues to be defined by messages of division and conflict, Harris's historic campaign to become the first woman – as well as the first woman of colour – to claim the Oval Office, and Taylor Swift's multi-record-breaking global Eras Tour, show how communicating with joy and optimism are powerful tools for building communities, inspiring change, and success.

The way that Harris communicates is notable for its joyfulness. She smiles and laughs, appears to be enjoying herself; she takes the job seriously, but doesn't take herself too seriously. She embraces memes and pop culture, understands what will resonate with young voters, especially young women, and encourages her social media and comms team to have some fun to reflect this.

The Harris campaign has been active on social media from the start, and fully embraced an early endorsement from Charli XCX, who deemed“Kamala IS brat” – a reference to the singer's 'brat' album title – by rebranding social media channels with the same chartreuse-green background as the album cover, with 'kamala hq' in the same lower case font. For those who got what this brat thing was all about – a rejection of a perfectly-groomed ideal of femininity in favour of a more authentic and slightly rebellious attitude – it was just... joyful.

Kamala HQ's social media comms strategy has been called a“masterclass for brands”, including the cheeky tone of some of the team's responses to Trump and Vance's more outlandish statements. And although we've all eye-rolled at the brands who are trying too hard or are super-late to the meme party with their mentions of 'Brat girl summer', #IUnderstandThe Assignment or“mindful and demure”, Harris' approach taps into an increasing trend for brands to have fun on social media, and use joy to build stronger connections with audiences.

The infectious excitement around the Harris campaign has been evident on TikTok, Snapchat and Threads – a marked contrast to the bullish thoughts of Elon Musk and other Trump supporters on X/Twitter – with users of the social media platforms, including celebrities, sharing Kamala HQ posts and reflecting on what Harris running means to them.

Threads had already got a boost from Swift joining the platform in April, and the centre of this Venn diagram is the very lively @SwiftiesForKamala account, which was set up immediately after Harris accepted the nomination; its relatively small following of 29,000 has already raised $200,000 for the Harris/Walz campaign.

Needless to say, Harris' approach doesn't appeal to everyone. Republicans, including Trump, have repeatedly sneered at Harris laughing during her speeches. New York Times writer Patrick Healy scoffed at her cheerful, positive approach after the Democratic National Convention, saying he“cringed” when Bill Clinton said Kamala Harris would be“the president of joy.” He wrote: “Joy is not a political strategy ... Being our joyful Momala is not going to win the election.”

But if hate, fear and mockery can be successful political communications strategies, so can joy, especially when bracketed with hope and empathy.

It's interesting to note that while the Democratic Party's policies haven't fundamentally changed – let's not forget the party has been the White House incumbent for four years – the immediate support for Harris among members who might have been expected to fracture and fight over the nomination after Biden stepped down, the astonishing fundraising totals for Harris/Walz, and packed campaign rallies all show renewed support and real momentum for this new, joyful brand of US political communications.

Swift's 149-date global Eras Tour, meanwhile – about to enter its final North America stint – has so far been an 18-month series of joyful rallies in itself, with significant demographic overlap with the Harris campaign. Night after night, stadiums around the world have filled with (mostly) women and girls of all ages, singing along to every word of her three-hour set, exchanging handmade friendship bracelets with complete strangers, stadium staffers and police officers.

I was at the second-to-last night of the European tour in August with my 18-year-old daughter (although – full disclosure – she's not the Swiftie...) and I've never experienced anything like that atmosphere: 90,000 people in London's Wembley Stadium radiating joy and harmony. Everyone felt completely safe, there was no pushing or violence, we all looked out for each other, including singing together in the long queues for trains after the gig; it was a cross-generational, nurturing – and very female – environment.

And this was just days after Swift's Vienna concerts were cancelled due to a credible terrorist threat, and after the terrible stabbings of little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport, UK. Maybe there's something about female joy that is disarming, threatening, even enraging, to some men, including Trump. Having said that, maybe the female joy in some cases is in defiance of our inner rage at a patriarchy that is increasingly rolling back women's rights – a recurring theme in Swift's music. It's not all smiles.

Both Harris and Swift embody a new kind of leadership and influence rooted in joy, warmth, authenticity and a measure of vulnerability, challenging traditional, often male-dominated, paradigms of what power looks like. These two women have both fostered a sense of community and belonging, creating safe spaces that have galvanized and mobilised female support. This reflects a broader cultural shift, outside of the political arena, towards valuing mental health, wellbeing, emotional intelligence and empathetic leadership.

And, as we have seen from Harris' fundraising efforts and Swift's estimated total revenue from Eras Tour ticket sales and merchandise ($4.1 billion), it's not just a feel-good strategy but a commercially successful one. Democrats now have a commanding fundraising lead, with the Harris campaign receiving a $50 million boost after the TV debate with Trump alone, adding to $361 million raised by Harris and her allies in August – nearly three times as much as Trump.

Of course, joy alone isn't going to win an election: Harris' strategy and messaging contains plenty of substance as well as style, which has appealed to corporate America. A couple of weeks ago, 88 business leaders announced they were backing Harris for president , saying she would“continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability and a sound business environment.” The joint endorsement was signed by leaders including billionaire Mark Cuban, former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, Snap chairman Michael Lynton, Yelp boss Jeremy Stoppelman, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and the former heads of American Express, Merck, Starbucks and Yahoo.

Harris and Swift are leveraging joy not just as an emotion, but as a transformative strategy for modern leadership and cultural impact. It's exciting, energising and encouraging to see, against a broadly disheartening geopolitical backdrop.

Whether this strategy translates to Harris winning the presidency, we shall see on 5 November. The polls remain close, with Harris currently having a marginal lead, but in the meantime, Democrats and childless cat ladies everywhere are riding the wave of being in their Joy Era.

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