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

[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.