A little surprise isn’t bad for you. Upending expectations and stereotypes provide unbounded benefits. Before this gets too general: country music legend Tim McGraw is an Obama supporter. In the way of public secrets, this isn’t explosive nor particularly confounding but it is interesting. Country music–being at and below the Mason-Dixon line–is usually marked out as a Republican territory. All that patriotic dross: rah-rah American, flag-waving, in-your face love of the red-white-and blue in defiance of the anti-American, uppity Northeastern and West Coast adversarial culture(s) doesn’t say: I support Barack Obama. Yet McGraw does. And he goes further: “[Bill Clinton] is the best president we ever had.” McGraw, a three-time Grammy award-winning performer with 40 million albums out there in the world, doesn’t appear to give a whit about losing supporters: he’s been publicly identifying Democrat since 2006.

Even more shocking: there are others like McGraw! For instance, Toby Keith, Chely Wright, et al. Since country music listeners are overwhelmingly Republican it is interesting that outspoken Democrat-leaning music stars haven’t seen a decrease in sales; but artistic prowess is sufficient enough a protection against ideological difference, it appears. Moral of the story: Don’t assume a man’s political leanings by his hat, his scruffy beard, his sleeve-worn patriotism, and the country songs he sings. He might just be a Democrat anyway.