My own father, a lifelong gov't employee, started out as a conservative redneck Texan who, thanks to required sensitivity training and other programming from his employer, became a flaming lib in his old age. He was more than most likely unregenerate and the desire to advance trumped any real consideration of his theological or political positions. That process was complete by the time of the Clinton vs Dole election, when I teased him about how things had changed since now he was voting for the dope smoker (Aah never exhaled... coff... coff) and I for the war hero.

The reality is that his entire mindset was dictated by his pocketbook. He took his political decisions based on who he thought would most benefit his bank account. Maybe that's part of the cause of any such trend.