On Saturday, Democrat presidential hopeful Kamala Harris appeared at a high-brow fundraiser hosted by music executive Scooter Braun. Bra...
On Saturday, Democrat presidential hopeful Kamala Harris appeared at a high-brow fundraiser hosted by music executive Scooter Braun. Braun and his wife, Yael, opened their lavish compound for a “fireside chat” with Harris in support of her bid for president.
The exclusive event, supporting the ironically named “Kamala Harris For The People” campaign, quietly featured more than a few celebrity guests.
Among the attendees were singers Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato. Harris and her campaign were somewhat quiet about the event, but her husband was quick to show her standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the pop culture elites.
Harris is a shrewd politician, but she is not shy about revealing the true nature of the Democratic Party. There are wide swathes of Republicans throughout the middle of the country, but her leftward sprint shows no signs of rallying moderate voices. As a result, she must rely on the coastal elites to rally an ultra-progressive base.
While the strategy is there, she may have stepped on a pop culture landmine.
Scooter Braun made an enemy out of musical icon Taylor Swift, when reports emerged on June 30 that he purchased her former record label, Big Machine Label Group. Swift responded to the move by calling the executive an “incessant, manipulative bully.” The fact that Braun represented noted Swift enemies Justin Bieber and Kanye West doesn’t do him any favors with her or her fans.
That’s a lot of drama to take in, and it appears that Harris has unknowingly taken a side. Some Swift fans have already renounced their allegiance to the campaign.
Harris experienced a boost in the polls following her racially-tinged attack on Joe Biden, but she has yet to take a firm grip on the primary battle. Her vague policy proposals and authoritarian tendencies likely scare away moderates, but political success in the era of social media goes beyond actual policy positions.
In today’s silly world, some people cast their vote based on who is friends with their favorite pop stars. Harris may have just abandoned the “Swiftie Wing” of the Democratic Party.