Does a politician's "make sure" sound like a promise to you, or are they weasel words?

During the first presidential debate, I noticed the phrase “make sure” cropping up a lot. I’ve heard President Obama use it repeatedy in various speeches, so my ears were already alert to it.

It seemed to be contagious. By the second debate, both Obama and Romney were using it frequently, sometimes three or four times in as many sentences. And it saw heavy use in the third as well.

I looked up the complete transcripts and did a search. Here are my counts:

“make sure”

Debate 1: 20 instances
Obama: 14
Romney: 6

Debate 2: 64 instances
Obama: 44
Romney: 20

Debate 3: 54 instances
Obama: 29
Romney: 25

Is “make sure”—as in “I want to make sure” or “we have to make sure”—the language of commitment, or does it put the speaker at arm’s length from the action?

If I say “I want to make sure you have enough cash in your pocket,” is that the same thing as saying “I will give you cash”? If I say “I’ll make sure there’s room for you,” is that the same as saying “I will save you a seat”?

So how about all the things that the candidates say they’ll make sure of? What do they really mean?

And while we’re at it, how about the difference between “want to” and “will”?

I don’t have separate counts for the two speakers, but here are the “want to” totals for the three transcripts, including the words of the moderators:

“I want to”

Debate 1: 27 instances
Debate 2: 50 instances
Debate 3: 45 instances

I know somebody’s going to say “Who believes campaign promises anyway?” but that’s not the point of this question. The point is, how do you hear those words?—as a promise or as empty rhetoric?