If Gov. Rick Perry decides to throw his hat into the presidential ring, we can expect enhanced interest in his Democratic past. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the analysis suggests Perry did not leave the Democratic Party so much as it left him, although compared to Reagan, Perry was (ideologically) much less of a Democrat to begin with. During Perry's first term (1985-87) in the Texas House his voting record located him as the 12th most conservative Democrat, rising to 10th in the 1987-89 session and 7th in 1989. From the very beginning, Perry was clearly a conservative outlier within his...