I am more interested in what Perry has done since he became a Republican, rather than before he changed. It is silly to say that because he didn't become a Republican before 1989 that ipso facto, he can't be a conservative.
And to further the analogy, Reagan changed from the Dem party in 1961, and ran for president in 1976, 14 years later. Perry, if he ran, will have been a Republican for 23 years before running for president. So if you take that as a metric, Perry has a longer and more stable record as a Republican then Reagan did when he first ran for president.
OK - granted. As any Christian will tell you, you have to be able to repent your sinful ways and become new.
The question is: has Perry truly done that, or just become a “practical” conservative like McCain?