Based on the bashing Bush is getting from his base its anything but the cowards way out.
I can understand what you are saying, but Bush's staunch conservative base is not as big in numbers as the status-quo of America who doesn't care about this bill, the media, and democrats. Sorry, but the true conservatives were really out numbered in this one. Bush figured that his base would pretty much always support him when elections come around anway and this way, he could avoid criticism by the media and democrats in the next election. This was a vote of convenience for him.