Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s evolution from tough talk to humble pie today swung towards the familiar… but probably effective… mea culpa.

“I take full responsibility for this election,” the governor said at an afternoon news conference at the Capitol. “I take full responsibility for its failure. I take full responsibility for everything.”

Those comments came at the end of a day that Schwarzenegger’s supporters clearly hope will show he heard the voters on Tuesday. A highly publicized meeting of the governor and legislative leaders this morning apparently didn’t get into specifics on issues facing the state, but may send the message that the governor will try the traditional route of governing for a while.

Schwarzenegger told reporters that he realizes he needs to be more patient in government than he might have been in bodybuilding and in Hollywood, though he apparently couldn’t resist another comparison to politics and show business: the audience is never wrong.

“If one of the movies goes in the toilet, you know that was the wrong story,” he said.

The governor seemed to quell the swirling Capitol rumors of a shakeup in either his political team or his administration… saying he’s probably never fired anyone in his life.

And Schwarzenegger seemed to strike a more pensive tone policy-wise, too.. For instance, he wouldn’t pledge to veto a tax increase if it was sent to his desk by the Legislature (unlikely, because even get to his desk, the tax hike would need GOP legislative support).

Today was clearly the first day of what Governor Schwarzenegger seems to hope is a new chapter. He even pledged to call the leaders of the unions that fought him these last few months, in an effort at seeking consensus.

And the Schwarzenegger sense of humor also crept in by the end. In a line that you’ll hear on TV over and over again tonight, he was asked what he would do differently if he could.

“If I would do another Terminator movie,” he said, “I would have Terminator travel back in time to tell Arnold not to have a special election.”