Not too long ago the two parties were extremely similar in their actions - not their chosen rhetoric ofc but after being elected they would do mostly similar things. I mean… Bush was even a progressive! (Boosting social welfare programs and shared services like schooling)

Nowadays though the party has changed. Some even say that the GOP is mostly dead - I think not entirely, not as long as Mitch McConnell is still there, but then again he’s barely hanging on now - as the GQP eats it from the inside out. Trump has radicalized it, just as the likes of Ted Cruz were trying to do to it before, except Trump was actually successful. He tells a powerful message: that it is not people’s fault for struggling in life, bc the game is rigged (which ofc it is), in stark contrast to Biden’s message that you just got to push forward regardless of how unfair things might be (nobody wants to hear that, but ofc it is also true).

There may be pockets of people left hanging on in the new Republican party who are still “conservative”, but more and more they are edged out, as it becomes Trump’s way or the highway. The goal seems no longer to “conserve” anything, and instead radically alter society - e.g. especially what almost and did happen on January 6. Thus, for the first time we are seeing record numbers of people registering as Independents, leaving behind both parties.

Anyway, congrats on taking this important step forward. I guess you are prepared that it will likely cost you friends - the “other” people are one thing, but the “traitors” are the ones who get the most ire (see e.g. Pence) - and I respect anyone who will push forward towards whatever they think the right thing is, despite the cost.