A friend emails me: “Dear Jonah, Is it worth reminding everyone that David Gergen claimed that he was never a registered Republican?” And then he sends this 1993 piece by Michael Kelly in the NYT:

On May 29, David Gergen was appointed counselor to the new President, a Democrat. The move surprised many who had known Gergen as a servant of three Republican Presidents, including one — Ronald Reagan — whom the new President had charged with ruining America. Actually, Gergen hastened to say with bland audacity: “I’m not a Republican. I’ve always been a registered Independent.”