Endorsing Is a Huge Part of Presidential Election, but What Even Is It?

Every four years, presidential candidates go through a number of rituals designed to appeal to voters and to prove that they are qualified to lead the nation. Some of those rituals are more important than others, nut one that can actually matter is related to endorsements.

Endorsements can come from anyone from another politician to a local or national celebrity, and while not every endorsement matters, some can be crucial. Given how much the term is thrown around, though, there are some who naturally wonder what it actually means to endorse somewhat. Let's take a closer look at how endorsements work:

Endorsing in a presidential election essentially means announcing your public support for a candidate. Some endorsements also come with donations or other forms of political campaigning, but the core act itself is simply announcing that you have chosen a candidate and throwing your support behind them publicly.

The original and literal meaning of "endorse" is actually "to write on the back of," which is how the term is used on things like checks.

As Merriam-Webster's Dictionary explains, though, the term has a more figurative meaning as well that's come to be associated with politics. As they explain, the term now means “to approve openly” or “to express support or approval of openly and definitely," and that usage began relatively recently, in the middle of the 19th century. As the dictionary also points out, the meaning wasn't initially limited to politics.

Eventually, though, the term's figurative meaning became confined largely to the political arena, and that makes sense. Endorsing a political candidate is metaphorically putting the candidate, their actions, and their policy views on your back.

Endorsements can matter a great deal if they come at crucial times, while others can feel a little bit less meaningful.

Endorsements are an especially important part of the primary process for candidates running for president, as they can signal that an upstart campaign has momentum and has continued to build support. Oprah Winfrey's decision to endorse Barack Obama during the 2008 primary is one good example, as are the early politicians who backed Donald Trump in 2016.

More recently, Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris following the first and only presidential debate of 2024 received a lot of attention because it was a signal of her campaign's momentum. There has also been a flood of endorsements for Harris in the closing days of the race, including one from LeBron James that may or may not have swayed some Black voters.

Of course, it can be hard to measure the efficacy of endorsements, because voters don't often explain their decisions in those terms. Even so, they can be an important signal of momentum. Nobody wants to be on the losing team, and endorsements can help candidates create the appearance that they are the ones winning. In politics, appearances can help define reality.