Well, I'm a newbie but don't consider myself a disrupter. And since I am new, I can't comment on what it was like previously. I will comment, however, on the fact that there are quite a few "liberal" opinions here which sound more like the democRat stance than what I would call the traditional Republican platform (I'm only a newbie here, not in the political/civic involvement forum). And I can agree with you, studies have shown women do vote more on the liberal side than men. And more single parent women are democRats, as well (I fit in the former, not latter category). That's my .02 worth.
I just don't see the value in a forum that allows only one type of thought. That sounds like demonrats.com - I can't count the times I've been banned from them for putting forth (gasp) opposing views.
It is of great value to confront opposing views and either defeat the view with fact and logic, or agree to investigate the view more thoroughly due to an inability to refute the fact and logic of the view.
Of course you get a lot of "I'm right/you're wrong"s with no fact or logic behind them - but that's just cop outs in evidence- ie folks who refuse to open their minds to another view but are unable to articulate the reasons for their rejection of a view.
WHat I like about FR is that I can persuade and be persuaded through debate.
I loathe those name callers though- the diminish the value of FR. I also greatly dislike those who assert a position, cannot defend it, then switch to the liberal name calling game. THose people are to be fully ignored.
In summary, I enjoy reading, debating, refuting, and learning. I am confident that the conservative/libertarian position is far more buttressed by fact and logic- so I would predict that FR will stay that way. We're in a swing right now. Maybe DU has a cyber-al qaeda after us?!
Compared to the 'author' of this post, you're an old timer.