A delegate from Mississippi named Kelly Jacobs made 1,000 friendship bands with sparkly beads that said “Swifty Voter” and “Kamala” to give out at the Democratic National Convention.
She started making the jewelry with references to pop star Taylor Swift earlier this year to get young white women to go to the polls.
They were mine, and I paid for them. Now we can ask a young white woman, “Are you a Taylor Swift fan?” Jacobs spoke up. “They say they are.” I ask, “Would you like this Swifty voter bracelet?” Following that, I ask them to please cast their votes for anyone they want on November 5th. That means the marketing plan has worked well. A lot of people want the friendship bands.
She said that she focused on white women because most white people who vote in her state are Republicans.
The jewelry cost her about $3,000 to make, and she gave out about 100 pieces before the gathering started on Monday.
Fans bring the bracelets to Swift’s shows and trade them with each other. Democrats are hoping that the singer, who has a huge fan base, will back Vice President Kamala Harris. Four years ago, she posted a picture of a plate of cookies made to look like the running mates’ campaign logos to show that she supported President Biden and Harris.
Jacobs said she was a community worker because her husband told her not to get arrested at the convention. She was wearing a dress she made herself with big pictures of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and a black fascinator hat with Harris’ name woven into it.
The 65-year-old woman said, “I like wearing political fashion because I’m a white girl and nobody in Mississippi believes I’m a Democrat.” She also said she planned to wear a dress to the convention that has Harris as Lady Justice on the front and Swift as Lady Liberty on the back.
“The convention is important because many people will want to meet someone who looks like them.” To that end, it works because we will look so different. “People will see themselves in the delegates on the floor because we’re not all white-haired men and women,” the Californian said. “I want to try to get younger Swifty fans who are also Kamala fans to register to vote with my collection of Swifty hats and clothes.”
