The bill would have been dead had he vetoed it. The votes to pass it over a veto weren't there. This isn't part of some grand strategy of Bush's to foil the democrats' dastardly plan. If you think it is then you watch too much Cartoon Network.
Oh, it is part of a plan - a plan to kill it PERMANENTLY. A veto only keeps it dead until we get another administration. Three years, four? And all the time, we have DNC ads mentioning Enron, Bush's CFR veto, and making it seem like he is a crook.
I did not cast my vote for Bush so he could commit political suicide. I put him in there to do two things: Advance a conservative agenda where possible, and to help get more conservatives elected. This is a war, and you do what has to be done in war.
A principled loser is still a loser. You will only set back efforts to defend the very principles you espouse if you don't accept the fact that we need to elect more conservatives before we can do things your way.