It was a VETERANS DAY SPEECH. He worked the criticism of the democrats into discussion of the sacrifice of our troops in war. ANWR would have been inappropriate for the setting.
Some were worried that attacking the dems would have been inappropriate, but Bush (speech writers) found a way to do it tastefully and with full appreciation of the solemnity of the day.
Frankly, I can't think of a better way to honor those who currently serve in our armed forces than to reassure them that we're doing everything in our power to peacefully utilize our own natural energy resources FIRST.