Taylor Swift fans are getting caught up in the Virginia gubernatorial race

[Sgent]

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/5/22710848/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters-glenn-youngkin-virginia-mcauliffe

Weeks before Virginia’s gubernatorial election, the campaign for Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is reaching out to an unexpected constituency: Taylor Swift fans.

On Tuesday, the McAulliffe campaign launched a series of Facebook, Instagram, and Google search ads highlighting his opponent Glenn Youngkin’s role in the controversial purchase of Taylor Swift’s master recordings in 2019. The buyout of Swift’s masters has been a point of bitter contention for the singer and her fans and could be an unexpected liability in the upcoming race.

Last year, Youngkin — the Republican nominee for Virginia governor — retired as co-CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group before launching his 2021 gubernatorial bid. At Carlyle, Youngkin worked with the media executive Scooter Braun to acquire Big Machine Label Group, taking control of all of Swift’s master recordings and, for a time, refusing to sell them back to the singer. Several months later, Swift called on Carlyle to intervene in the deal, saying that the acquisition made it more difficult for her to perform her own music and produce her Netflix documentary named after her record Reputation.

[DET]

1. Works For Me

I don’t really care about Taylor Swift, but anything that works to prevent this despicable hypocrite from winning here is fine with me. The sad thing is that Youngkin isn’t even a legitimate wingnut, he’s just going along for the ride. I will never understand why rednecks and bumpkins think that the former CEO of the Carlyle Group (!) is on their side.

[happybird]

2. It's disheartening to see all the Youngkin signs that have sprouted up in yards

here in blue NOVA. There is a banner I pass every day on the way to work that says “McAuliffe is Corrupt. Virginia will steal your land.” Don’t know what that’s about, but the sign is big and on a heavily travelled road, right by the turn off to a popular brewery.

There a virtually no McAuliffe signs here. I’ve seen maybe 3, total, and the red Youngkin signs are everywhere. I wonder if his campaign thought he had NOVA in the bag and didn’t bother to canvass much up here? That could be a huge, extremely costly mistake.

[DET]

4. Disheartening

Indeed. I’ve grown accustomed to the Youngkin and Pyon signs around here (near Clifton) since it’s a pretty affluent area, but it’s infuriating. The bombardment of Pyon mail flyers has been especially obnoxious. Pyon himself could be a great guy for all I know, but his campaign is clearly being run by the Virginia Republican Party, which knows no bounds. The recent anti-Semitic Youngkin mailer was the last straw. The thought of going back to the days when loathsome creatures like Ken Cuccinelli ruled our state is truly terrifying.

[empedocles]

12. Also, 'cons may be less embarassed by youngkin, than they were about trump signs.

That's not good

[lagomorph777]

13. I am seeing the same thing.

It's scary as hell.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. "CEO of the Carlyle Group" - Bush-Cheney live!

[crickets]

14. First thought that sprang to mind. Not a nice blast from the past at all. nt

[ColinC]

3. This worries me

Last time she was a factor in an election, we lost badly. Of course, that was Tennessee, but still...

[speak easy]

7. Yes. But this time it's personal.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, will get Swifties out in force like the message that the Republican candidate was in bed with Scooter Braun.

[vercetti2021]

6. My question is

How dangerously close are we to losing this election in Virginia? Like if we do lose it, will Dems likely loose control of the state houses too? Like this shit will worry me a lot.

[empedocles]

10. Dems cannot depend as much on the anti-trump vote this November.

For many less-involved voters, seems that trump doesn't matter as much.

[Duppers]

8. I've been disappointed in Terry's campaign.

It's been lacking. This race is too important to lose here in BLUE Virginia.

I've a friend, a professional, who wrote to Terry/his campaign 2mos ago and never got any response whatsoever, even tho he's a donor. He wrote:

Terry,

What about your message? I have seen some of them, and they are ‘lacking’. I sent you an e-mail, hoping that someone in your campaign would get the message to you.

The message is this:

And while I completely support you for governor, your ads don’t come close to “cutting through the republican fog!!” Remember, you are running against Q-ANON, voter and citizen rights suppression, etc. Start running against Trump and what the republicans stand for.

This brings me to the basic question—why don’t you take off the gloves and dig into him and Trump? For example, why are you not reminding the Virginia voters that he would turn Virginia schools and hospitals into Texas-sized messes.

So, focus your adds to take on the republican nonsense including Jan. 6, and I will not feel as if I'm throwing my contribution money away. You don’t have much time to turn this around, Terry. Get busy on your message. Take it directly to the republicans.

Sincerely,

As I said above, my friend received no response, not even a standard form letter/email from the campaign! Apparently, Terry has hired some inexperienced or lazy campaign staff.




Glad to hear Terry is reaching out to Taylor Swift fans. But it's getting late in the game; he should've been bashing Youngkin over the head regarding a LOAD of issues WEEKS ago!