I don't think its more liberal. Its definitely more reactionary. But I understand why.
I used to be a Republican, and then one day I was attacked by the Republican president. A Republican president I had voted for, to be clear. It opened my eyes and made me look at my positions in a way I had never been forced to look at them before. I became a libertarian, mainly because that was the wing of the Republican party that best represented my views. I posted some about how my political affiliations had changed, wherever I was posting at the time, but that was it. In West Mall, and then Cloak Room I had bought into the "both sides" team, and remained firmly libertarian in my views, until life got in the way and I started to realize that there are definitely situations where government is necessary, over and above national defense and roads. I was still mostly libertarian in nature, with a few exceptions. But my posting on West Mall and Cloak room, for most of the lives of those forums, was related to gay rights and both sidesisms.
I will vote as a Democrat in the midterms, and for the foreseeable future, and that's not because my views have changed all that much. I've adjusted my views some based on life experience, but mostly, I still want a government that is on the small side and that is sane. What has gone off the rails for me is both sidesisms. Yeah I don't like Republicans. Yeah I don't like Democrats. But, it is perfectly clear that the Republican party has been heading down this path for a long long time. Evangelical leaders got us started, then guys like Limbaugh and Hannity put a political spin on this nihilism that's spread through that party like crazy. You know things have gone off the deep end for a party when leaders in that party start taking Alex Jones seriously, and that has happened, repeatedly, in the last few years. This is no longer a both sides situation, because the Republicans as they exist today are so much worse than the Democrats that both sides has no meaning.
All those things that Brisket brought up are insane. But all of them are true. There is not another president in my lifetime who could have actually done all those things and survived it. Hell, most of them wouldn't have survived the bullshit they put up with from the Okie EPA guy. The fact that this hasn't really changed the popularity of Trump says a lot of things about the Republican party as a whole, and none of them are good. It tells me I can expect more of the same for at least the next decade. Maybe the Dems will get worse or the Reps will get better, and I will go back to my both sides arguments. Or maybe one of them will actually become a center right party who cares about the rights of all people, and I can actually find a home. But for now, its time to go with the lesser of two evils with full voice, and that means I will vote with the Dems for the first time.
This is the legacy that is being left by this brand of Republicanism. It's turned people who were happy enough just to throw away their vote and bitch on the sidelines into people who will actually cross the aisle and vote against them. That's not because a change in ideology of the posters on this board, its because of a change in ideology of one of the parties.
And for the record, since I got the right to vote, I have voted for President this way - 1992: George Bush, 1996: Bob Dole, 2000: GW Bush, 2004: Libertarian candidate, 2008: Libertarian candidate, 2012: Libertarian candidate: 2016: Gary Johnson (only one whose name I even remember).