Fred Thompson, the GOP’s purported dream candidate, might be well-advised to brush up on his rhetorical skills before the official launch of his presidential campaign. Clearly he’s still a bit rusty on the stump after all those years of Hollywood make-believe.

Speaking in South Carolina recently about tougher border security in the age of terrorism, Thompson warned that Cubans who habitually escape their island with a yearning to breathe free might really be coming here to blow us all up.

The former Tennessee senator said that, in 2005, we “rounded up over a thousand folks who originally came from Cuba. If they’re coming from Cuba, where else are they coming from? I don’t imagine they’re coming to bring greetings from Castro. We’re living in the era of the suitcase bomb.”

Unless you closely follow Republican presidential politics – and, more specifically, Florida politics – those remarks may seem unremarkable. But, politically speaking, they’re downright stupid. In fact, it’s the kind of stupidity that can seriously damage a Republican candidate.

Perhaps Thompson could have justified his remarks by providing some proof that some of those “thousand folks,” or Cuban emigrants captured in other years, did, in fact, turn out to be terrorists. But he didn’t, thus leaving the impression that Cubans in general are seeking entry to do us harm, not to pursue the American dream.

I doubt that is what Thompson meant to imply. Indeed, he later wrote on his blog that he wanted to “clarify something” about his South Carolina remarks. He then insisted that he had meant to say that Fidel Castro might be sending Cuban agents through Mexico, disguised as Cuban emigrants, and that he had not intended to cast suspicion upon “the vast majority who immigrate legally.”

Oh. Well, then perhaps he should have explained all that in his speech. Because, as conservative commentator Jim Geraghty points out, Thompson seemed to be maligning all of the anti-communist Cubans who seek to reach these shores; for a Republican, that is very bad politics.

Poor timing, too. Thanks in part to the conservatives’ harsh tone on immigration reform, the GOP is losing support among the fastest-growing demographic in the electorate. A new Gallup poll shows that Hispanics nationwide are leaning Democratic by nearly a 3-1 margin. Thompson has managed to inadvertently insult the only Hispanic constituency that has stayed loyal to the GOP.

To gauge the political importance of Cuban Americans in Florida, consider this: If it wasn’t for them, George W. Bush would have spent the past six years in private life.

Fairly or not, Thompson’s poorly worded remarks have been immortalized on YouTube, and Democratic operatives reportedly are circulating the video.

You can bet that if Thompson wins the Republican nomination, his remarks will be dredged up in autumn 2008, as Democrats seek to capture the Sunshine State. But Thompson must first contest the other Republicans, some of whom might be tempted to circulate his remarks.

Perhaps the moral of this tale is, if you’re going to be touted as a Reaganesque communicator, it would be wise to shake off the cobwebs and live up to the hype.