I'm pretty sure he mentioned offshore drilling in his inauguration address. I KNOW he mentioned it in the state of the nation address. This is not a shocking new development. Attempts to make it so ring rather hollow and dishonest with me.

Paying more attention to Afghanistan was one of his campaign planks, iirc. It's certainly nothing he's been schtum about.

Obama is not left-wing. He's left of center but not that far from the center. Not nearly as progressive as some would like (myself included). I greeted his election with cautious hope. So far he's above 50%. Probably can't ask for much more.