Stay Calm...Hear Me Out On Taylor Swift

Harrumphers, it's time we discuss what recent pop culture news means.

Today’s Monologue

Ok, we’re Harrumphers. We’re thinkers. Not emotional morons. That’s the left.

I’m not looking to be needlessly antagonistic headed into the weekend, I assure you. I promise this isn’t going to be a monologue about music or football. It’s not a monologue about why you should or shouldn’t love Taylor Swift or care about the reported budding relationship between the singer and the NFL star Travis Kelce. Hear me again. I’m not trying to change your mind or make you care about any of that.

I’ll also stipulate - yes, I know she’s a Democrat. And yes, I’ll also stipulate Kelce is currently featured in ads for Pfizer’s shot and took a knee in 2017 during the National Anthem. I loathe both of those things. So, ok - they’re Democrats. Stay with me. We’re not emotional morons. Say it with me!

My sons, my father, and most of my closest friends love watching football. So do I. My wife and my daughter - among millions of women worldwide - love Taylor Swift’s music. I didn’t say her politics - I said her music. There’s a difference, and virtually all of us can name liberal musicians whose music we love.

And if you’re still saying “I don’t like any of it and I don’t care!” Well, I appreciate your commitment to the lonely, front porch fist shaking, but there’s a world out there still spinning along.

I don’t have to do the math for you when we add it up. A billion dollar sports league with millions of fans just collided with a billion dollar music star beloved by millions of young women. We’re thinkers here at the Harrumph Society, so we go deeper than simply saying, “I don’t like her music or I don’t like the NFL.” That’s like the left shouting “I don’t like red meat or gas powered cars!”

They’re both cultural forces here to stay for the foreseeable future wether you like it or not, so let’s discuss it and figure out what to do with it. Because Democrats use these things. But might Republicans find inroads?

I’ve often mentioned how revealing it is to me when Republican candidates seek out or avoid coming on shows like mine over the years. My fellow hosts and I have millions upon millions of listeners. Rush said in his last year on air, he was reaching up to 30 million listeners a week!

Our listeners are informed, engaged, and they vote. If there were one audience a Republican candidate would want to persuade, it would be conservative radio and podcast audiences. 

But some candidates choose to ignore/hide from hosts such as myself. I assume they aren’t confident, fear debate about their policies, or don’t want to be caught on tape espousing conservative values. Whatever. When they avoid conservative audiences, they miss massive opportunities to recruit voters. 

That was the brilliance of Donald Trump. Trump recognized a vast, trained army of voters and instantly decided to become their general. Trump talked to all the national and local hosts he could. Rush became his biggest supporter. Talk radio educated generations of conservatives, and Trump spoke to them and later commandeered them on his way to victory in 2016.

Before he ran for President, Donald Trump’s favorite radio host appeared to be Howard Stern. After he decided to run, it was Rush Limbaugh. 

Smart!

As you know, Trump supporters are unbelievably loyal. They will fight for Trump, give money to Trump, volunteer for Trump, and vote for Trump. In fact, they don’t care much for anyone who disagrees with them— even in the Republican Party!

With that in mind, I’d like to tell you about another vast army out there also intensely loyal to their general.