The USA Today poll has a margin of error of 5 percent, a little larger than I usually prefer, but the trends seem pretty clear…

• Giuliani: 25%; vs 28% in the previous survey, taken Nov. 11-14; and 34% in a Nov. 2-4 survey. So, his support has fallen 9 percentage points in a month. • Mike Huckabee: 16%; vs. 10% in the previous survey; and 6% before that. His support has risen 10 percentage points in a month. • Fred Thompson: 15%; vs. 19% in the previous survey; and 17% before that. • Sen. John McCain: 15%; vs. 13% in the previous survey; and 18% before that. • Mitt Romney: 12%; unchanged from the previous survey; and 14% before that. No other GOP candidate was above 4%.

One of my regulars just e-mailed, “I’m gonna take a guess with the new poll numbers out and say Rudy doesn’t find Huckabee so wonderful anymore.”