SACRAMENTO (AP) – Styling himself a centrist who is not beholden to either political party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in Jan. 5 to a second term.

The governor, who is nursing a badly broken right leg, missed the first part of the program and came out on crutches at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium to deliver his speech.

“Centrist does not mean weak,” Schwarzenegger said to a crowd of about 3,000. “It does not mean watered down or warmed over. It means well-balanced and well-grounded.”

The governor harkened back to the dismal year he had in 2005 when his clash with the state’s public employee unions cut his approval rating in half and led to a trouncing at the polls during his special election. Using a religious metaphor, he said the debacle had awakened him to a new way of doing business.

“Like Paul on the road to Damascus, I had an experience that opened my eyes,” he said to laughter among the crowd. “And what was it that I saw? I saw that people, not just in California but across the nation, were hungry for a new kind of politics, a politics that looks beyond the old labels, the old ways, the old arguments.”

Schwarzenegger said growing numbers of independent voters are showing the way to a new era of what he called “post-partisanship.” And he called for a new “creative center” in politics.

“This is a dynamic center that is not held captive by either the left or the right or the past,” he said.

The state’s 38th governor was sworn in by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George, using a Schwarzenegger family Bible from 1878.

To burnish his bipartisan credentials, Schwarzenegger invited the state’s top Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, who on Jan. 4 became the first woman speaker of the House, and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, although none of them attended.

However, the master of ceremonies was another famous Democrat, former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who once was speaker of the state Assembly.

The symbolism is important for Schwarzenegger, who will need the cooperation of Democrats again this year as he attempts ambitious reforms in health care and prisons. Democrats hold majorities in both houses of the Legislature.

The governor had not been seen in public since he broke his right femur during a ski accident in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Dec. 23, a painful injury that required surgery. Doctors used screws and cables to connect broken fragments of his thigh bone.

He skipped the opening event to his inaugural festivities on Jan. 4, but he attended all three events the following day. A luncheon in the Capitol and the black-tie gala at the convention center followed the swearing-in.

The Jan. 5 inauguration was more elaborate than the one Schwarzenegger received in 2003 after winning the divisive recall election and replacing Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who attended the swearing-in along with former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. At the time, California’s economy was still recovering from recession.

Davis said he was gratified by Schwarzenegger’s centrism last year, especially since it was engineered by some of Davis’ own former aides who now work for Schwarzenegger.

“If you have to be recalled, it’s nice to be recalled by someone following down the same path,” he said.

With the state in better shape, Schwarzenegger’s advisers said the good times called for a more lavish celebration. Jose Feliciano performed the national anthem and Tony Award-winning singer Jennifer Holliday gave a musical tribute to Schwarzenegger. Paul Anka and Donna Summer headlined the evening ball.

Actor Tom Arnold – a motorcycle riding buddy of the governor – also attended the swearing-in. He predicted his friend would try bold things in his second term, perhaps even supporting same-sex marriage.

“He’s going to do a lot of things that are like that and better,” Arnold said.

Schwarzenegger, who is beginning his final term, also used his address to present his vision of California two decades from now. He hopes for grand achievements to rebuild the state’s infrastructure, protect its environment, promote biotech research and correct the state’s persistent budget woes.