The Demo Site

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Sotomayor explained in a 2002 speech at Berkeley, she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decisionmaking, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” — Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in her Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at the University of California (Berkeley) School of Law in 2001

“It is a shame. But you have to come to a realization around here that at this point in time, the N.R.A. gets the votes.” - Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California

“I wish there could be more courage and leadership from our friends on the Hill,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, saying he believed that lawmakers were overestimating the gun lobby’s political might

Obama Before: Barack Obama told the Orlando Sentinel that he would meet with Chavez and "one of the obvious high priorities in my talks with President Hugo Chavez would be the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of FARC in Colombia and other issues he would want to talk about."

Obama After: Following his interview with the newspaper Obama has said, “any government supporting FARC should be isolated. We will shine a light on any support for the FARC that comes from neighboring governments," he said in a speech in Miami. "This behavior must be exposed to international condemnation, regional isolation, and - if need be - strong sanctions. It must not stand."

TEMPE, Arizona – To get an idea of just how much effort the Obama administration is putting into retaining the support of the Hispanic community, click on the homepage of Eduardo Sotelo.

Don’t know who that is?

Top Obama aides do, and they’ve already had the president speak twice to the nationally syndicated radio talk show powerhouse better known as “Piolin.”

Last week, they brought the Southern California-based talker into the Oval Office for a sit-down that went largely unnoticed – except, that is, to the millions of listeners in the 52 markets where Piolin is heard.

“We need to be able to communicate through radio and obviously you’ve got the biggest listenership so we’ve got to make sure you’re involved,” Obama said in the interview.

It was just one example of a relentless courtship of the nation’s largest minority group and a pivotal voting bloc that numerous aides say has become a near-obsession of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

A loose coalition of international aid organizations, religious groups, environmental advocates and some businesses are lobbying Congress to include billions for international aid in the forthcoming climate change bill.

The groups argue that helping developing countries cut greenhouse gases and protect against the effects of global warming is a key to success at the international climate talks scheduled for December in Copenhagen.

“The U.S. can’t go completely empty-handed to Copenhagen,” said Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser.

Existing problems of poverty and malnutrition in poorer countries have been exacerbated by climate change, experts say, as changing weather patterns and intensified storms hurt agricultural yields and infrastructure.