New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, at a panel on young conservatives in the New School in New York City, faltered upon responding to a question about gay marriage from a New Yorker fact checker. The New York Observer reports:

The question came from Christopher Glazek, a fact-checker at The New Yorker, who wanted to know whether Mr. Douthat and Mr. Salam believed that former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, who has apologized on behalf of his party for the Southern Strategy, should also apologize for the Republican party's gay politics.

At first Mr. Douthat seemed unable to get a sentence out without interrupting himself and starting over. Then he explained: "I am someone opposed to gay marriage who is deeply uncomfortable arguing the issue in public."

Mr. Douthat indicated that he opposes gay marriage because of his religious beliefs, but that he does not like debating the issue in those terms. At one point he said that, sometimes, he feels like he should either change his mind, or simply resolve never to address the question in public.

He added that the conservative opposition to gay marriage is "a losing argument," and asked rhetorically if committed homosexual relationships ought to be denied the legal recognition accorded without hesitation to the fleeting enthusiasms of Britney Spears and Newt Gingrich.

After the panel, Mr. Douthat told the Observer: "If I were putting money on the future of gay marriage, I would bet on it."

Although Douthat indicated that he disagrees with same-sex marriage in his personal beliefs, he also seemed to indicate that the conservative movement wasn't taking the correct approach on this issue. It's interesting, especially as polling indicates that young people are far more likely to support same-sex marriage. Douthat is generally thought of as a leading conservative voice for his generation, so if he thinks that the current path conservatives are on with same-sex marriage, something might be changing.

(h/t Jesse Singal)