There are many different reasons to like a particular song or style of music, and identifying with the lyrics are one of them. Anyone who appreciates the new Kendrick Lamar album for what it says about race, or the new Sufjan Stevens record because it portrays grief so well, knows that. Country music’s response to 9/11 clearly mirrored and arguably fed into the popular feelings that created public support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. So it shouldn’t be that surprising that the genre’s lyrics and attitude caught the attention of Cruz, who was working in the Bush administration at the time. He might be exaggerating when he says his tastes changed “on” and not “after” 9/11, but then again people did respond in dramatic ways to that dramatic day, and anyone craving a shot of pure musical patriotism would have been able to have it satisfied by, say, Brooks & Dunn’s “Only in America,” released five months earlier.

Social habits provide another reason to like a certain kind of music; anyone who’s been turned onto a band by a friend knows that. And once groups of people are involved, politics are involved, hence why streaming sites can tell if you’re a Republican or Democrat. The most interesting thing about Cruz’s statement is that he says the genre’s response to 9/11 made him realize that “these are my people.” Not that “this are my set of aesthetic values, including twangy voices and slide guitar.” What you listen to can be as important as who you listen with, and, as Cruz probably realizes, who they vote for.