Sorry, but there is no moral difference between a "quota" and another type of racial preference when the effect is the same.
In the Michigan case, the University gives a certain number of points, for being a member of certain groups, in a mechanical admissions process. Bush is against that. But what if the college admissions officers gave the same amount of racial preference, but in an informal way through admissions committees stacked with liberals? The unadulterated truth is that the President is fine with that.
George W. Bush, like the good politician he is, wants to compromise on most issues, including this one. And I don't like that.