But even as they comfort storm victims and pitch in with relief efforts, they are mindful that disasters offer potent political moments, chances to telegraph their values ahead of what could be a grueling campaign.
"A museum like this is a rare and potent cultural happening, a chance to internationalize the image of our city and gain a lot more visibility in the Northern Hemisphere," said the mayor of Salvador, Antonio Imbassahy.
But if Obama can pull it off and do well in Pennsylvania, he'll go a long way toward silencing the most potent argument against his chances with McCain.
It might also hint at the Jets' promise in a season where even the usually circumspect Martin has suggested that the offense has a chance to be potent.
Though conventions themselves have receded in importance, the acceptance speech has remained potent, offering the candidate the chance to introduce himself to America.
Public speaking has long been considered a potent business development vehicle, a chance for people to meet and get to know you and your expertise.
The ceremony crystallized a potent threat to Rojava: the chance that Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, who have traditionally been darlings of the West, will together undermine the Syrian Kurds and their relationship with Washington.
But McCain shifts seamlessly to complaining about the fact that Susan Rice's first set of talking points didn't have all the magic answers the first Sunday after a very confusing firefight, and the chance for a potent critique of the administration's terrorism policy is lost.
While none of the compounds discovered were active in inhibiting the MA-CA cleavage in the secondary assay, extension of the screening effort to more diverse chemical libraries may enhance a chance to discover potent inhibitor of this cleavage event.
They will need to limit the Galaxy's rather potent array of offensive weapons chances to win this match.
The visitors looked the most potent although both frontmen wasted chances.
