His critical mistake (imho) was not doing amnesty instead of Obamacare.
He had a window 2009-2010 when Democrats controlled it all to get one big thing done and he could have gotten amnesty.
The GOP would not win another election and they could do all the rest after that.
You’re probably right.
His ego likely could not let him walk away from having his name attached to the law that “fixed” healthcare.