That’s exactly right, jellybean. Another interviewee I heard recently uttered a lot of ahs and ums, and that was Duncan Hunter. So, it is NOT something unique to Fred Thompson. I agree with you about the mind going faster than the mouth allows.
I think it’s perfectly fine. I’d rather hear ahs and ums than, “like ya know”.
I’d also rather hear a lot of ahhs and umms as long as there is substance rather than a bunch of words strung together that sound good, but have no meaning.