--- ---  # Want to Avoid Another Political Argument? Talk About Taylor Swift by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 28, 2014 4:31 PM UTC  Taylor Swift performs during her 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on Oct. 27, 2014 in New York City. Taylor Swift performs during her 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on Oct. 27, 2014 in New York City.Kevin Mazur/—Getty Images for TAS by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 28, 2014 4:31 PM UTC It can be pretty exhausting to go on Facebook these days. Your Republican friends are arguing about Ebola, while your Democratic friends are posting angry comments about voter ID. And there’s still another week of gaffes, controversies and debates until Election Day. Here’s the solution: Talk about Taylor Swift. According to data released by [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-science/politics-and-culture-on-facebook-in-the-2014-midterm-elections/10152598396348859) on Tuesday, the pop phenom is almost equally liked by supporters of both Republican and Democratic candidates. To do the study, Facebook looked at the favorite books, landmarks, bands, TV shows and authors of people who liked specific political candidates.  Courtesy of Facebook The results weren’t surprising for hardened partisans. Democrats like _The Color Purple_, the Empire State Building, the Beatles, _The Daily Sho_w and Maya Angelou. Republicans like _Atlas Shrugged_, George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation, George Strait, _Duck Dynasty_ and Dr. Ben Carson. But it was surprising which cultural interests managed to hit the sweet spot right in the middle. Supporters of Republican and Democratic candidates both tended to like the _Old Farmer’s Almanac_, the Jersey Shore, AC/DC, _The Big Bang Theory_ and mystery novelist James Patterson. TV was the great equalizer. Pretty much everyone equally liked shows as diverse as _House_, _Sons of Anarchy_ and _Grey’s Anatomy_. So if you want to change the subject from politics as the days tick down to the midterm elections, just talk about television or Taylor Swift instead and you’ll be fine. Fans of Taylor Swift on Facebook Could Like Either Political Party ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3543579/facebook-taylor-swift-politics-jon-stewart/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3543579/facebook-taylor-swift-politics-jon-stewart/"},"headline":"Want to Avoid Another Political Argument? Talk About Taylor Swift","datePublished":"2014-10-28T16:31:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:15.926Z","description":"Haters are gonna hate hate hate, but everyone likes Taylor Swift","url":"https://time.com/3543579/facebook-taylor-swift-politics-jon-stewart/","keywords":["2014 Election","facebook","Taylor Swift"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47042f473a899968/6987632535ba6f608cc04b4e/taylor-swift3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47042f473a899968/6987632535ba6f608cc04b4e/taylor-swift3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Taylor Swift performs during her 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on Oct. 27, 2014 in New York City.","caption":"Taylor Swift performs during her 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on Oct. 27, 2014 in New York City.","creditText":"Kevin Mazur/—Getty Images for TAS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2014-election/","name":"2014 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3543579/facebook-taylor-swift-politics-jon-stewart/","name":"Want to Avoid Another Political Argument? Talk About Taylor Swift"}}]}] ```