Neither could I. But ultimately they must be aware of the commercial consequences of doing so. They're in the business of making country music. People who listen to country music tend to be socially and politically conservative. Therefore, it behooves them not to alienate their audience if they wish to be commercially successful. They want the free speech without the consequences to their careers. Too bad, it don't work that way.
CC
Indeed though there are certainly some country artists who may lean left including Steve Earle and even maybe Merle
Haggard (who came out as anti-Iraq war I believe. “We don’t
smoke marijuana in Baghdad...”?) But true, mostly
conservative.
Rock artists like Pearl Jam do things like burn effigies
of Bush on stage. And let us not forget this gem from
Akron Ohio’s Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders:
“Are we at war yet? Bring it on, I hope the Muslims win!
Down with the economic s-— this country represents!”
Visiting Akron recently, I had a great sausage pizza
at Luigi’s and my friend there pointed out we were near
Chrissie’s vegetarian restaurant. Glad I ate at Luigi’s! :)
And since REM has split up I can mention that on MTV
(some awards ceremony or something) lead singer Michael Stipe had a bunch of T shirts on and each one had a politically correct statement on it. He read it as he took each shirt off...