tutti frutti, oh Rudy

David Gergen has been dumping on the Republicans since forever on CNN. Tonight he visited with Larry King (following an interview with Giuliani), and Gergen was pretty impressed:

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER TO PRESIDENTS NIXON, FORD, REAGAN & CLINTON: Well, what I find really interesting, Larry, is that the pundits — the commentariat, if you would like to call it that, has discounted — and I’ve been among those who have discounted a Giuliani candidacy for some time.

We’ve always said, you know, he looks attractive on the surface, but people are going to move away from him. This is, after all, the Republican Party.

But something really interesting, though, has happened over the last 30 days. A month ago, the “USA Today”/Gallup Poll had Giuliani and McCain basically running neck and neck for the Republican nomination. Giuliani was ahead by around four points.

Their recent poll — it just came out today — has Giuliani ahead of John McCain for the Republican nomination by 16 points. Sixteen points. He’s opened up a huge lead and I find it really interesting.

I must say, my good friend, Arianna, I disagree about what’s going on here, in part, with Giuliani. I think he’s taking these stands because that’s what he believes in. And I think his appeal is he seems — like Barack Obama, who lights fires on the Democratic side — he is appealing because he’s authentic. He is who he is who he is. And it’s not all calculated…

Of course, some of us, ahem, saw this coming—and voiced our caveats. Back in August. Ahem. But we want to emphasize that we are not politicos. No sirree. We are culture watchers. Plus, we always listen to the voice of our inner sociologist. Oh. And we are no longer ideologues.