Despite some frustration, I have a positive opinion of conservative governors and officials that refuse to take that fateful step into outright defiance of judiciary excess. For example: Bill Pryor on Moore's rock, Jeb Bush on the Schiavo case, Mitt on marriage. These are stalwarts who live to fight another day, not go down in flames like Alan Keyes; who I also admire, by the way.
Personally, I think Romney could have afforded to take that fateful step in this particular case, but that's not what really bugs me about him. The problem is that he was nowhere near confrontational enough with them. In addition to totally pulling same-sex marriage out of nowhere, the court also usurped the Governor's authority, because the Massachusetts constitution explicitly makes him, not the SJC, the ultimate recourse over all causes of marriage. Even if he didn't defy them, he could have kept hammering that point over and over again. And as you noted in your first paragraph, he could have got behind the effort to recall them. I agree that something like Article 8 should only be used in extraordinary circumstances, but this is about as extraordinary as it gets.