THOMPSON: Needs Practice

A CNN story suggesting Fred Thompson supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage drew attention 8/17. Thompson quickly emailed a clarification to The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez including: "I'm afraid CNN story you linked mischaracterized Thompson's comment on gay marriage. ... For the record, the Thompson camp has officially noted that Fred Thompson does not support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He supports the rights of States to choose their marriage law for themselves."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt didn't miss a beat: "Which makes Romney the only top tier candidate who does support the Federal Marriage Amendment. ... This is a huge issue in the GOP primaries with a crucial segment of the electorate --the segment that hates court-imposed social engineering. ... If the defense of traditional marriage is one of your key issues, Fred Thompson can't be your candidate."

AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin caught the original story and the clarification and sees the incident as more evidence Thompson is not as ready as his GOP opponents: "There is a great benefit to communicating through blogs as he has done -- you can be clear and edit to your heart's delight. ... The retail politics in Iowa and New Hampshire is generally not scripted and very interactive. If you watch a townhall with Mitt or Rudy they move fairly seemlessly from one topic to another with nary a "hmmm" or "ahhh." They've been practicing for months now and each is frankly startling good in these forums. ... It's going to be a big challenge for Fred."