You do recall that he fought it tooth and nail and demonized those who supported it, right? And only signed it when it was clear that it had enough support to over-ride his veto, and even then begrudgingly. When it was shown to clearly work, he then claimed credit for it.
Color me skeptical but perhaps his major hemming and hawing was for the sake of an audience...his constituency...I lean towards thinking that the country is run more by a permanent shadow government than by the elected officials we see on TV...I don't really believe that most politicians believe in anything beyond their careers.