I just read an amazing post on quora.com to: "Do conservatives ever become liberal?"

[TexasProgresive]

It appears that a lot of tRump trolls ask questions like the above. Interesting are many who answer are definitely not tRump fans. This lady's answer is a gem.
snip:

Samantha Bean, Mistress of nothing, collector of quite a lot.
Updated Aug 3, 2017 · Upvoted by Curt Ziniel, PhD in Political Science, still baffled by political reality.

Yes. My husband did. The strangest thing about it was I remember the moment it happened, because it did happen in the space of a few minutes. As I think about it, it happened in the time it takes to say one sentence.

When I met my husband, he was very conservative. I had first formed my own political ideas in high school, and I was and remain very liberal. Fairly early on in our relationship, we agreed that there would be times when we simply would not see eye-to-eye on an issue, and we decided that at those times, we would simply shake hands and agree to disagree. We loved each other and wanted to spend our lives together—we would just have to muddle through the political stuff.

There were a few times when it was difficult to try and remain civil and we had awful arguments. The one that comes most readily to mind is an argument we had when it was announced that men suspected of terrorism would be held at Guantanamo Bay. I was furious about it because I saw it as handy loophole which would allow our government not to declare someone either a criminal suspect, where they would have the protections of the Constitution, or a prisoner of war, where they would be subject to the requirements of the Geneva Conventions. I saw it as cheating. He had other views. He said some things that even he would tell you were completely inappropriate. I found out recently when I tried to joke about it, since it was so long ago, that he is deeply ashamed of it. I don’t know if we will ever be able to laugh about that argument.

As I stated earlier, my husband flipped from being a conservative to being a liberal in the space of a few minutes. I was sitting right there, and watched it happen, and it is still a very strange thing for me to think about.

https://www.quora.com/Do-conservatives-ever-become-liberal/answer/Samantha-Bean-7?share=a1a52aab&srid=5JyZt

[cyclonefence]

1. This is my story, too

My husband comes from a family of hard-right-wingers ("Roosevelt was a Jew" for example), but after we were married a couple of years he began to understand left-wing values and is now as progressive as they come. We had arguments about politics (I remember repeating and repeating "there wouldn't be regulations if there hadn't been abuses" until my eyes crossed), but those became fewer and fewer. It took what I think is a remarkably short period of time to "turn" him.

Maybe that's the answer--all you unwed progressives need to marry or at least breed with right-wingers.

[hlthe2b]

2. I think there are a small percentage of conservatives (and gun-obsessed, for that matter) who may be

REACHABLE.

[beachbum bob]

3. its possible but rare from observations on politics over the last 5 decades.

I have seen it happen a few times but most people are firmly entrench within their own dogma. America is not a center-right country but the right has been the most active for 3 decades and the left has gone soft and lazy...until this trump thing and why we see democratic wins in deep red districts since trump was elected.

We need to convince the great "center" that the "right" has failed and failed big on all levels. But remember we are up against the corporations and good deal of the wealthy in putting the message out. Newspapers no longer play the same role, same with TV/cable news. The elimination of the fairness doctrine began the path for "fake news" to take over with players like foxnews and rush limbaugh, etc.

a real grassroots uprising must happen at each election, we on the "left" must always coalesce around our candidates..this bullshit of not "supporting the lesser of 2 evils" has to end. We have to the big tent party...accepting the entire range of thoughts, opinions and policies.

we can have our debates but in the end, we must unify at each and every election and who knows, perhaps in 1-2 years we have a huge majority going for us in congress where real change could happen with a democratic president

[Happyhippychick]

4. My hubby

When I met him in college he was a Democrat, not progressive though. In his 40's he started working at a cyber security firm and I saw him gradually slide right, not conservative. He was still pro choice but he really hated the Obama presidency. We had horrendous fights, completely started by him because the kids all are like me, as they put it "liberal because it's sane".

He didn't vote for McCain because of Palin but he did good for Romney.

For a few years it was really bad, I wasn't sure we would make it because I began to lose respect. He was a Kasich supporter but it was clear he wasn't gaining traction. He has hated Trump since 1980, as the primaries dragged on he switched parties. He actively campaigned for Bernie and then Hilary, even bought a bottle of pink champagne for election night.

Now, he absolutely hates every single Republican. He is in a fury every day, right alongside me and our children. Trump had been bad for the country and the world but there is cohesion in my home. And it's permanent because my husband is so disgusted with that party.

[heckles65]

5. I can say I am such a person.

I voted for Reagan in 1980 and was semi-enthusiastic for the guy. I had the 'everybody can be like me' baggage of the white suburbanite. There was hardly one big event that flipped me. I still think of myself as conservative at heart - heck, I even listen to 1940's music on Sirius.

I can say I've got a much darker view of humanity nowadays; which is why I am particularly disdainful of the anti-abortion movement.

[Skittles]

9. anti-choice, not anti-abortion

repukes don't care about women

[Nitram]

6. Thanks for sharing this story.

[raccoon]

7. This is especially good:

My husband told me that sentence (what Rumsfeld said, to the effect that you go to war with the army you have, not the one you wish you had) forced him to see that often, the conservative response to an issue shows little or no forethought or concern about the lives of the people who will be impacted most. For him it was not just a matter of the soldiers in the field—the answer illuminated a larger way of thinking about others, and not worrying about the impact of policies and decisions.

[Aristus]

8. I was a real, rah-rah Ronald Reagan fan in high school.

It was all as superficial as a thin coat of paint. I come from a family of staunch, Kennedy-style liberal Democrats, and had been raised with very progressive views.

But I got caught up in all of the early 1980's "America's Pride Is Back!" bullshit. I was a shameless flag-waver and militarist. I voted for Bush Sr. in 1988, my first Presidential election, and again in 1992. But by that time, I was seeing my right-wing views for the poor fit that they were. I had joined the Army as an M1 tanker, and was repelled by the racism, sexism, and homophobia of the real right-wingers I met in the service.

While I was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, I made a number of friends in Louisville's gay community (I'm straight), and became angry during the debate over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' that my friends could be denied the opportunity to serve in the military if they wanted to. That's really when my inner liberal started to assert itself.

I got out of the Army in 1993, and after the GOP took over in 1994, I never looked back. I became a vocal supporter of liberal causes, and am a much happier person for having done so. It's been twenty-six years since I cast a vote for a Republican. I may never do so again.