Politics and country music have been linked for decades. Although most artists through the history of country music have tended to avoid discussing politics in great detail for fear of alienating their fans with other political affiliations, a political thread has always run through country music.

Anti-communist songs were a thriving sub-genre in country music in the '40s and '50s. West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd released an album of fiddle music in 1978. Country and bluegrass bands have long been a staple of political rallies in the south.

And President Nixon appeared (and even performed on piano) at the opening of the then-new Grand Ole Opry House in March 1974.

Most famously, Roy Acuff ran for governor of Tennessee as a Republican in 1948. Acuff lost the race (at that time the Solid South was still solidly Democrat), but nonetheless managed to pull in more votes than any other Republican had in previous elections.

Though less well-known today than Acuff, W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel was far more successful in his political aspirations. An important figure in the early history of western swing as the manager, announcer and occasional lyricist of the Light Crust Doughboys, O'Daniel was elected governor of Texas in 1938 and 1940, then defeated Congressman Lyndon Johnson in a special Senate election in 1941.

Country artists are lining up on both sides of the aisle in this year's race between President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts.

The Dixie Chicks are participating in an October tour including artists like Bruce Springsteen to raise money for groups to spend to defeat the President. Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Raul Malo of The Mavericks, Allison Moorer and Steve Earle are also vocal about the need to elect Kerry.

On the Republican side, a slew of performers have gotten involved in the Bush campaign including Trick Pony, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans and Mark Chesnutt.

In most cases, the support comes in the form of singing, not actually giving speeches on behalf of a particular candidate.

Much has been written about Natalie Maines' comment to a London audience in March 2003 on the eve of the Iraq war ("Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas").

The damage to the Dixie Chicks' career was obvious, though, and subsequent explanations and even an apology from Maines did little to help. Record sales - which had been strong a few weeks earlier - began dropping off, as did radio airplay as radio stations around the country began removing the group from playlists.

(A spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks declined a request for an interview for this article).

Perhaps the most important new player in country music political circles - and one which formed as a direct result of the Dixie Chicks incident in London - has been the Music Row Democrats, an organization claiming about 1,300 members organized in December 2003 by "a group of Nashville music industry leaders who were fed up with feeling as if they had to apologize for being Democrats, particularly when they knew that Republican policies were negatively affecting the lives of the working class people who make up much of the audience for their music," according to a statement on the group's website, musicrowdemocrats.com.

One of the co-founders of Music Row Democrats (along with Bill Carter, Don Cook, and Tim DuBois) is Bob Titley, manager of Brooks & Dunn and a longtime fixture in the Nashville musical community.

Somewhat ironically, Titley's primary clients, Brooks & Dunn, are prominent Republicans and made several personal appearances at Republican events, most recently the Republican National Convention in New York City.

Asked whether they talk politics, Titley says, "We talk about it. But, you know, they're great guys. They aren't extreme partisans. We'll have some good-natured debates, but I respect that they're committed to their views."

Regarding the origins of the Music Row Democrats, Titley says, "I think there's a sense of collective shame in the community that the Dixie Chicks crisis happened and that no one rose to their defense. We wanted to have some kind of collective voice that could (react) if the circumstance rose again. Once we started having meetings there was so much energy and so much fellowship that you could actually talk to your neighbor about politics."

Asked if he was surprised by what Maines said onstage and the reaction, Titley replies, "I wasn't particularly surprised by what they said, particularly considering where it was said. I won't say I was 'surprised' by the reaction. I was alarmed by the reaction. My understanding is that it was a reaction that was very much engineered in that there was a group called FreeRepublic.org who organized call-ins to radio stations. And the radio stations reacted to that in feeding this idea of the boycott of music."

"You have an accumulating number of episodes where the marketplace, dominated by large distribution companies and broadcasters, is punishing political speech."

Asked whether artists shouldn't be prepared for a negative reaction from those who disagree with them if they begin speaking out on political subjects, Titley says, "They should be prepared for the reaction of their audience. They should not be punished, though, by broadcasters and companies responsible for distributing information, particularly political speech. I think there's a distinction. An artist does accept responsibility for an audience not buying their product or walking out of a concert. But broadcasters have a responsibility, too."

Beth Harwell, head of the Tennessee Republican party since 2000, is less sympathetic towards the Dixie Chicks.

"The Dixie Chicks wanted to express their opinion, and I think it's justified for the opposite side to express their opinion. And they did. If we believe in freedom of speech, it goes for both sides of an issue."

A question which frequently emerges is to what degree the audience - and therefore the politics - change in the country music industry during the boom years of the '90s. Titley feels that the audience is split more or less evenly among Republicans, Democrats and independents.

"There was a survey done two years ago by Seacrest Associates, and they determined that the country audience reflected the rest of the nation. It was about a third Republican, about a third Democrat and about a third independent."

Harwell leans toward the theory that the country audience probably started leaning a little more toward Democrats as the audience expanded in the early '90s, but adds that the shift might not have meant much in the long run since the genre's core values remained more or less the same.

"It probably changed, but country music fans are very patriotic," says Harwell. "They believe in their country, they believe in family, (and) there's a real sense here in Tennessee of volunteering and helping out your community - supporting your local church and your local civic organizations."

One of the difficult questions for a recording artist is balancing one's political beliefs against one's career. It's an issue Titley has given much thought to since some of his clients have been politically active on both sides.

"A former client, Kathy Mattea, was fairly active on issues. As a manager it is something you recognize - that you do take a risk when you engage in politics. It is a touchy area."

Asked what advice he might give to a young performer who's interested in being more active politically, Titley says, "I would first tell them to consider the risks, and consider the level of profile you want to have. There are a variety of ways to be engaged. You could engage yourself in specific issues, or you could engage yourself in a very high-profile way. You could also engage yourself with local or state politics. Senate races. House races. Those are equally important."

For her part, Harwell feels that the Music Row Democrats will have a limited impact on the 2004 election.

"We think there are many, many more Republican (country) musicians," says Harwell. "They (Democrats) are welcome to organize any way they want to. (But) people are independent thinkers, and they don't want anyone telling them how to vote. I don't care if it's a local elected official or a country music star. People like to make up their own minds. It's fine for (country music performers) if they want to voice their opinions on who they might support, but I don't think it has a tremendous influence on how people actually think."

One person critical of the close Republican association with country music has been sociologist Michael Ayers of New York's Manhattan College. In his August essay, "How to Lose Cool and Alienate Voters," Ayers took the GOP to task for their choice of music at the Republican National Convention (which consisted largely of country and Christian acts), summing it up thusly in his piece:

"The choice of Brooks & Dunn, Lee Ann Womack and the rest ultimately reflects the GOP's central message: Keep the status quo. Things are just fine the way they are...As much as the GOP is attempting to seem 'hip' and 'fresh' with these multi-platinum artists, none have had any crossover appeal whatsoever, which will translate to no crossover appeal in terms of tuning into their party."

Is that important, though? The acts at the DNC were chosen to appeal to their party's base. And the acts at the RNC were chosen to appeal to theirs. And the bases of the two parties don't necessarily have the same musical tastes.

"Yeah, that's fine," says Ayers. "I had thought that (Republicans) were trying to appeal to a larger audience, though. Honestly, I think they should have gotten no one. They should have just left it to politics because I think there's a message there (in the choice of artists) about their politics."

Harwell says that choosing acts for events such as the RNC is always something of a tightrope walk.

"A lot of them express interest in supporting us," says Harwell. "(For instance), Sara Evans had sung for us at our state dinner. A lot of country music stars are big fans of George W. Bush."

Asked if she ever contacts artists to ask if they would be able to make an appearance at a particular event, Harwell says it's done less frequently. "We have done that in some instances. The problem is that they tour a lot, and weekends are valuable to them. So for them to sing a song or two for us at a dinner on a Saturday night is asking them to give up a weekend."

One of the most frequent country performers at Bush campaign events is Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs has been one of the most successful country and bluegrass performers of the past two decades, during which time he's also been one of the more outspoken conservative voices in country music.

However, his latest endeavor, Your Country Your Vote (yourcountryyourvote.org), is a non-partisan effort (albeit one which is mainly being conducted by conservative musicians) to get out the vote in 2004. Other artists lending their support to the effort include Randy Travis, Billy Dean, Darryl Worley and Josh Turner.

"There are a lot of Americans who think their vote doesn't count - 'why should I even vote? Nothing's going to change....' And that's the very reason to vote. If you don't like the way things are going, vote! A lot of people do a lot of bellyaching and a lot of complaining, but if you don't vote, then you really don't have a right to complain. So we're trying to get people to register and to vote. This is an important election this year, and I just think that people need to vote."

Skaggs is well aware of the suspicion some will view his efforts due to his longstanding ties to the GOP. Titley, for instance, says, "Obviously, most of the artists are associated with a conservative viewpoint, but generally any of those efforts have some degree of partisanship to them. But as I told someone else, we need to encourage everybody to vote. We just hope they'll study the issues and be knowledgeable about the issues."

Skaggs replies, "This whole campaign that we're doing, we're trying to keep it in a non-partisan arena, though people know that I (am) Republican, so (some) people see it as trying to gather up votes for President Bush."

"This whole campaign is kind of different," continues Skaggs. "The thing that's different is that I'm not out bashing John Kerry. I'm sure he cares for America, and I have no reason to disbelieve that. It's just that his politics and my politics are different. I don't agree with everything the Republicans do, either."

The presidential race looks like it will go down to the wire. Current polls (as of late September) show President Bush leading in every southern state. Some - Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky - are probably lost causes for John Kerry no matter what he does. However, he still appears to be competitive in other southern states (Virginia, Arkansas and Florida).

And Titley makes a good point: That the south - and country music audiences - are more complex and diverse than people often give them credit for being. Thanks to vast changes in communications in the last two decades, the sorts of regional differences once common are no longer as pronounced.

"You've got cable TV, you've got the internet everywhere, and you've got a lot of migration," he says. "So the regional distinctions that people think about are not as profound as they used to be."

"Also, I don't think people in Tennessee and North Carolina really want to be like Mississippi and Alabama. There are several different souths. It's not just one monolithic beast."