I was going to 'like' this because it represents much of how I think as well. I just want to add that as a young-un I was mostly a liberal, and I was so effing SURE how right I was, maybe I commiserate a little too much with the opposition. In the short time(relatively) I've been here, there has been massive growth and change in asechrest, and bflynn. I won't bother to critique other more strident folks, they are working through the liberal challenges the way I once did.
It's a bit of a few things, I think. I've grown as a person. The Democratic party has grown away from me. I'm not afraid to immerse myself in the views of the opposition, which necessarily means I recognize that some of those views are better than my own previous views, (since no side is always best, hint hint to some folks here). And I'm so f*cking busy that, frankly, I have little time to worry with the entrenchment of my own political views.
This is much of why I let Becky know I don't currently have the passion to convince her to be a Liberal.
I also know that it doesn't work like this for everyone, though, as I've now grown more "conservative" than my own mother and father, who are obviously substantially older than I am.