Republicans who are unhappy with the current crop of 10 GOP candidates for president have pinned their hopes of “Law & Order” actor Fred Thompson. A former senator from Tennessee and (formerly?) a good friend of second-place candidate Sen. John McCain, Thompson has been sending signals that he plans to enter the race.

Thompson made his first campaign-style appearance Friday night in Orange County, the fountainhead for GOP fundraising in California. I happened to catch part of the speech on C-SPAN over the weekend and was surprised at how bad he was. His delivery was flat and unenergetic, and the message was less than inspiring — talking points strung together in no particular order.

Of course, Fred Thompson doesn’t stand a chance with me. I’ve never voted for a Republican, for one thing. For another, I am immune to the charms of millionaire Republicans like George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan who project folksiness.

However, no less than the prince of conservative darkness himself, Robert Novak, who was in the room, had a similar take:

“It was not Reaganesque.” “No red meat.” “Too low key.” That was the preponderant reaction I heard to Thompson’s half-hour presentation (leavened by a few favorable comments, mostly by women, that he was more “statesmanlike” and “presidential” than the announced candidates). Lincoln Club members, like many conservative Republicans, have been unimpressed by the existing field of Republican hopefuls and envisioned Thompson as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. They did not get it Friday night…

Surprisingly for such an experienced performer, however, Thompson had trouble with the podium microphone as his low, conversational tones faded in and out. He ended his speech on a down note by reporting a recent visit to 6-year-old schoolchildren and what they had told him. Thompson worried that the long Lincoln Club program preceding his speech may have turned off the audience, but he may have been the one who lost his enthusiasm.

Novak also gave notes on the debate among the 10 announced candidates last week in Simi Valley, Calif.:

Dissatisfaction with the current presidential field was intensified by the chaotic debate of 10 Republican candidates broadcast nationally the previous night. Rudy Giuliani seemed uncomfortable dealing with standard conservative issues. John McCain sounded harsh and hawkish. Mitt Romney’s newfound conservatism still seems contrived to many in the Republican base.

Republicans stumbled the last time they nominated someone whom they believed to be Reaganesque. After being fooled into believing that George W. Bush was Reagan’s political heir, he turned out to be the heir of his actual ancestor, Pres. Franklin Pierce, a one-termer who left office in disgrace in the 1857. (Pierce was the only sitting president rejected by his own party for a second term.)

Despite Thompson’s stumble in front of the big-money crowd Friday night and his lackluster record in the Senate, he may still be the best candidate the Republicans have to offer next year.