I'll file this under the "it doesn't completely surprise me" category.
It's not that I didn't like Sketchy Rogers, I just never had a feeling that he was passionate about government size, law, or doing the right thing. He kind of does, but I suspect he saw that absolutely no one on the left (Dems and media) care to look under the sheet, so he chose to play along.
I'm also sure there's more to this story, but we may not find out. He certainly doesn't fall into the Swalwell-Rosy category, but he doesn't need to be considered a Republican anymore.
Hate is how progressives sustain themselves. Without hate, introspection begins to slip into the progressive's consciousness, threatening the progressive with the truth: that their ideas and opinions are illogical, hypocritical, dangerous, and asinine.
This is backed by data.