This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class.

I found during the course of my political career on the national scene there's a point where the vanity burns away and you've had your fill of your name in the papers, or big adoring crowds, or the exercise of power. And for me that happened fairly quickly. And then you are really focused on: What am I going to get done with this strange privilege that's been granted to me? How do I make myself worthy of it?

Its important for people to know that I will make many promises to get their votes.

I know that the politics around trade can be very difficult - especially in an election year.

Justice needs to be served, what I think people of Baltimore want more than anything else is the truth. That's what people around the country expect.

I don't think marriage is a civil right, but I think that being able to transfer property is a civil right.

I'm about to embark on what may be as important as an initiative as anything I do as President, trying to nudge the world in the direction of doing something serious about climate change.