Governor Schwarzenegger’s PR people have announced that he’s changing his attitude.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to try the political version of one of those makeovers popular on afternoon TV talk shows - where the guest is transformed from unsightly to attractive.

Convinced that the public sees the former film star as someone more fixated on name-calling and political head-butting than he is on actual, day-to-day governing, Schwarzenegger and his advisers say they have decided it’s time for a radical change of course.

Will the press bite? It seems at least possible, given their fascination with style over substance, that a push to portray Arnold as a kindler, gentler Terminator might find some takers in the State’s media.

Let us not forget, however that this is the governor who vetoed legislation banning performance-enhancing supplements while taking money from magazines who advertise those supplements. This is the governor who is still fighting rules requiring enough nurses to care for patients. And so on.

The media may buy the new-look Arnold, but I am confident that nurses, teachers, and state employees will be there to remind us that behind the face lift, the ducking is still pretty damn ugly for everyday folks in California.