Given that the Democrats had 80% of both legislative houses and could impeach and remove him at will, with the support of the MA electorate, I think this merely means the guy understands that he can only push as far as the political environment will allow. Politicians don't have the freedom we do of pushing for whatever we want, regardless of whether it's politically possible.
Look ZF, it's time to get the stories straight. Was Romney our hero and paladin of conservative values, or was he the powerless pawn of the Massachusetts Democrat legislature? He can't be both, yet all we hear is the selective choice of one or the other based upon whether it will make Romney look good, or will preserve him from looking bad. That sort of logic is the type of thing that FReepers would decry if we were talking about anybody else but the GOP nominee. It just doesn't wash.
Further, if your argument really had merit, then he never would have made the provocative action to begin with.