The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has made a habit of trying to play the role of different former governors of the Golden State, much like an actor would take on a character. Unfortunately for the governor, none of the roles he’s adopted have won over the public.

During the bitter and bizarre recall election, Mr. Schwarzenegger was compared to the most famous and beloved of former California governors: Ronald Reagan. It was a comparison Arnold enthusiastically embraced.

The media pointed to the most obvious reason for the comparison – the fact that they both left Hollywood to come to Sacramento and begin political careers. Arnold liked to point out that he too was optimistic, like Reagan and believed in delegating the details. But unlike Reagan, Mr. Schwarzenegger seems more the actor than the governor based on his ever-changing political persona.

After seizing power, Mr. Schwarzenegger seemed more interested in playing the role of Pete Wilson, the last GOP governor in California and considered a moderate because he’s pro-choice like Arnold. The new governor brought in several of Mr. Wilson’s staffers and the former governor himself was sought out for sage advice.

The heavily Democratic legislature in California wasn’t about to let the governor have legislative success, so Arnold’s agenda stalled. Mr. Schwarzenegger dumped the Pete Wilson role and changed his political persona to a more conservative stripe.

In 2004, he took on the role of George Deukmejian, the conservative former governor. By using the initiative process, much like Mr. Deukmejian did with great success on the death penalty, Arnold was hoping for a score against the legislative Democrats and their lefty allies like the teacher’s unions who had thwarted his agenda.

The New Deukmejian fell flat. All four of Arnold’s initiatives lost at the polls. So, this year the governor has embarked on a new more progressive agenda that he hopes will win back the moderates he had during the recall.

Mr. Schwarzenegger used his state of the state address to launch the new Arnold. He outlined a big-government spending package that was designed to rebuild the state’s aging infrastructure – much of it built in the 1960s by Pat Brown, another former governor and the late father of another former governor, Jerry Brown.

The governor has also hired Susan Kennedy, the former chief of staff to the man he fought to replace, Gray Davis. His wife, former NBC News personality and Kennedy clan member Maria Shriver, has also hired Gray Davis’s former cabinet secretary to be her chief of staff. Both newcomers are gay, a mighty constituency in the Golden State.

It is unclear whether Arnold is trying to be the new Pat Brown or the new Gray Davis, but without a doubt he is trying to move to the center as witnessed by his choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy with a moderate woman. All this maneuvering has evoked howls from conservative activists – a strong force in the state Republican Party.

While the governor has been working to shore up his conservative base, he is moving steadily toward the middle ground of California. The strategy seems to be working in some ways – the Democrats are left with little to complain about. The two front-runners for the Democratic nomination are not exactly first tier candidates and they have been left somewhat flatfooted.

Whether the public warms up to Arnold’s new character role is another question. But it has had the effect of throwing the Democrats off balance and that has big advantages as Mr. Schwarzenegger starts putting together his re-election campaign.

We will have to wait and see if Arnold decides to take on the role of former Governors Jerry Brown or Earl Warren. But one legendary California Republican who tried and failed to make it into the governor’s office seems to be reaching out from the grave through his presidential library in Yorba Linda. A button with a picture of Richard Nixon and Arnold Schwarzenegger is for sale at the Richard M. Nixon Birthplace and Library. It contains the Arnold quote: “Nixon is the Reason I’m a Republican.”

Mr. Willson is a writer living in New York City.