If Taylor Swift ran for office, I would vote for her in a heartbeat

It was “New Artist Day” for my Nashville Leadership Music class of 2006.

The agent introduced the artist, as only agents can do, as the “next big thing.” The young singer-songwriter was the 15-year-old Taylor Swift. She sang the first song she ever wrote, “Tim McGraw.”

I was impressed, yet I told Taylor and her mother if she wanted to keep learning she might consider the new songwriting program in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont.

I know, I know, but who could have predicted that in 2017, Swift would be on the cover of Time magazine as Person of the Year along with other women, collectively known as “The Silence Breakers.” They were strong and influential women who courageously spoke about sexual misconduct, emboldening millions of women to find their “me-too” voice.

We need someone of character in office who brings light and joy

Swift was again named Time magazine Person of the Year, as an individual, in 2023. Time editor Sam Jacobs said she was chosen for “bringing light into the world” and “for bringing joy to a society desperately in need of it.” Lucian Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, said in another Time article by Sam Lansky, “She could serve two terms as President of the United States and then go to Las Vegas. Who else can do that?”

Of course, we can’t vote for Taylor Swift in upcoming elections, but we can vote for people who bring light, joy and hope.

We can all learn from the qualities millions of people around the world have come to admire in Swift and hunger for in leaders: character and moral compass, emotional intelligence, empathy, kindness, curiosity, vulnerability, and perhaps most of all, a willingness to use her stage, influence, power, and strength to empower others. It’s more than her music. It’s about who she is as a human being.

As Lansky wrote, “Maybe this is the real Taylor Swift effect: That she gives people, many of them women, particularly girls, who have been conditioned to accept dismissal, gaslighting, and mistreatment from a society that treat their emotions as inconsequential, permission to believe that their interior lives matter. That for your heart to break…is a valid wound, and no, you’re not crazy for being upset about it, or for wanting your story to be told.”

America needs advocates for the people and democracy

Heartbreak and loss are part of life, but so much heartbreak and wounding of the human spirit comes from systemic inequities we inherited, current toxic leaders and the millions of good people who are silent or compliant. We, in short, have “normalized” cruel, abusive, mean-spirited and untruthful behaviors.

This is a historic moment. We cannot be silent. We all have voices; we all have choices; and we all can vote.

We are desperate for leaders that truly care for the most vulnerable and use their platform, moral compass and power to inspire people. Find those leaders and vote for them.

Be an advocate for people, democracy and the planet. Bring the light.

Bethel “Bo” E. Thomas, Jr., Ph.D., is a psychologist, consultant, co-author of “Real Dream Teams,” and author of the newly released paperback version of “Reinventing Leadership: Leading to Inspire a ‘Better Normal’.”