Taylor Swift could be democracy’s last best hope: columnist

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch is not the only liberal or progressive opinion columnist who has been arguing that U.S. democracy itself will be in on the line in 2024 presidential election.

But in his September 24 column, Bunch argues that Democrats aren't doing enough to get that message out. Democrats, according to Bunch, need to be sounding the alarm in a huge way — and celebrities, including pop star Taylor Swift, can help be a part of that effort.

Bunch warns, "It's a dire situation… Too many might stay home on the night of November 3, 2024 — and wake up on the road to fascism. What a mess. Who can save us? I'm thinking Taylor Swift."

The columnist notes that on National Voter Registration Day, Swift "posted a plea to her 272 million Instagram followers to sign up for the ballot."

"The Swift maneuver was very much in line with something I've been thinking about lately," Bunch explains. "America needs something a lot bigger than our corrupted political parties if we're going to stop this slide into authoritarianism."

Bunch continues, "I've said in the past that the Trump personality cult has turned the GOP into an anti-democratic movement, not a political party. I now believe that defeating this MAGA cult will require not just a countermovement, but a mass movement that saves our politics by transcending politics — led by the best and brightest of pop culture and moral virtue."

The columnist calls for a "Democracy League" that will get the message out about the 2024 election's importance.

Bunch writes, "My hope is that a pro-democracy mass movement could offer a reality-based slap in the face to an electorate that needs to understand the real choices here before I's too late…. Please get the Democracy League cranked up, preferably today. Start planning the Woodstock-sized concerts and start filming the celebrity-laden TV ads that will get not thousands but millions of young people to register over the next 12 months."