OAKLAND, Calif. – Could Bulworth topple the Terminator?

That was the question in the air at a nurses’ convention here last night as actor Warren Beatty delivered a scathing attack on one of his former Hollywood colleagues, Governor Schwarzenegger.

The nurses erupted repeatedly in cries of “Run, Warren, run!” as Mr. Beatty endorsed traditional liberal causes such as a national health insurance system and savaged the governor on a wide array of issues.

“I now believe that he doesn’t have the experience or the political courage to risk his popularity by defying his advisers and raising taxes,” Mr. Beatty said. “He has sent the bill with interest to our kids.”

Mr. Beatty unleashed a series of insults against Mr. Schwarzenegger, calling him “a Republican right-wing spokesmodel” and denouncing a special election the governor has called for this fall as “a cosmetic exercise to build up his image while he exhibits himself as a supposed reformer.”

Mr. Beatty, 68, also faulted Mr. Schwarzenegger for failing to criticize the Bush administration. “Not facing facts is a mistake and that concept of reality should be saved for action movies and for show business,” he said.

Mr. Beatty did not rule out making a run for governor, but he did not seem enamored with the idea. “I still prefer not to run for public office,” he said early in his 35-minute speech. “I have a day job.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger, whose poll numbers are in a deep slump, announced last week that he plans to run for re-election next year. He also faces the more immediate challenge of passing three ballot measures this November that he has declared critical to his reform efforts. The referenda, which involve teacher tenure, state spending limits, and redistricting reform, are all trailing in polls.

Many of the roughly 500 nurses in the crowd were ebullient at the prospect of having a Hollywood star who supports their cause enter the political arena.

“We’re thrilled,” a registered nurse from San Mateo, Calif., Katherine Grover, 58, said. “We’re looking at him as potential to help the state of California.”

Speculation that Mr. Beatty might challenge Mr. Schwarzenegger intensified in May after Mr. Beatty delivered a commencement speech at Berkeley that contained strident criticism of the governor.

A spokesman for the governor later called Mr. Beatty “a crackpot.”

In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Schwarzenegger said he is puzzled at Mr. Beatty’s vocal opposition. “I just think that maybe he is jealous that I did jump in,” the governor said. “I find it silly because I respect his work.”

The chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, Art Torres, said in an interview yesterday that he does not expect Mr. Beatty to run. “I talk to Warren all the time,” Mr. Torres said. “I applaud him in what he’s doing.”