I hold a more skeptical reason, because Free Republic has become a real place for conservative views and ideals, some have chosen to infiltrate and dilute the message.
That's not really a 'new' tactic.
I saw that from the very first day on FR. There were discussions going on about it at the time, and from the way they talked, it had been going on for a while (like ever since Jim kicked Ariana Huffington off).