Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in for his second term in Sacramento yesterday. Sounds like a festive occasion. Jennifer Holliday and Jose Feliciano (remember him?) performed. The governor had a right to celebrate. He had executed a succesful turnaround in exactly 12 months. In November 2005, his approval rating was in the low 30s; in November 2006 he won reelection in a landslide.

Schwarzenegger won because he made a sharp turn to the left on policy, particularly healthcare and the environment — and because was able to convince voters, especially independents, that he had seen the light on Republican-style devisive politics.

In his speech yesterday, he declared his independence from the GOP, and thus became the nation’s most powerful RINO:

“I believe that we have the opportunity to move past partisanship, past bipartisanship to post-partisanship,” the governor said before about 3,000 invited guests. “Post-partisanship is not simply Republicans and Democrats each bringing their proposals to the table and working out differences. Post-partisanship is Republicans and Democrats actively giving birth to new ideas together.

“I believe it would promote a new centrism and a new trust in our political system,” he said. “And I believe we have a window to do it right now.”

The address was written by a former Ronald Reagan speechwriter, Landon Parvin. But there appeared to be more Kennedy touches than Reaganisms.

When Schwarzenegger’s popularity was at its lowest point, there was still a Republican who scored lower. Pres. Bush’s approval rating among California voters hasn’t budged out of the low 30s in years.

Why did Arnold turn it around, while George apparently cannot? Because the president can’t admit mistakes, much less learn from them. Schwarzenegger’s rise from immigrant body builder to multimillionaire movie star to governor of California required, above all, adaptability.

The 40 percent of us who did not vote for him, which is roughly the Democratic base in the state, remain skeptical of his sudden lurch to the left. I stand by my prediction that he’ll lurch back to the dark side before his term is over.

But for now, he has the state’s full attention and a renewed mandate. Good luck, governor.