Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran Follow

Calculated political ploy. Timely foreign outreach. A dash of each? Ask voters across the country about Barack Obama's image-packed week of foreign travel and you'll get a mix of admiration, suspicion, even a couple of bored shrugs. Dale Whitesell, 54, a teacher and registered Democrat of McLean, Va., poses for a photograph after expressing her views to The Associated Press on the upcoming presidential election in Tysons Corner, Va., Washington's northern Virginia suburbs, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Whitesell said she was delighted to see Obama spend time with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. "I like the fact that he was around people in the military," she said. "I think he made an effort, as much as possible, to see what was really going on." Ahron Leichtman, 65, a Jewish writer and film producer from suburban Cincinnati, talks to The Associated Press Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Leichtman said he supports Obama, but wondered how well the senator knows the history and sources of strife for Israel and the Middle East."Does he really understand the hatred that exists there?" Leichtman said as he visited the new Jewish community center in Amberley Village "I don't know if he's naive enough to believe that he can be the catalyst to make peace, but he's a charismatic person." Azzy Ram, a Miami Beach, Fla., business man, talks to The Associated Press about the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama's trip to the Mideast Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Ram said it is time for all parties to talk. "What concerns me is what's going on inside the country. That's the first thing that has to be fixed," said Ram, who owns a Miami Beach toy store. "Foreign policy, he won't be able to change much anyway." Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich reads the Bible to US Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., center, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Obama has professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere. Robert Lindenbush, 50, a homeless man, talks to The Associated Press about Obama's trip to the Mideast, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 in Miami Beach, Fla. "By him going overseas and talking with the Israeli government and the people who mean the most to the United States ... I think what he's doing is great," said Lindenbusch. "What he's showing now is that he has the experience to go out and reach out to these people and to say to them 'Hey, this is Barack Obama. I'm here. Let's work together.'" ale Whitesell, 54, a teacher and registered Democrat of McLean, Va., poses for a photograph after expressing her views to The Associated Press on the upcoming presidential election in Tysons Corner, Va., Washington's northern Virginia suburbs, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Whitesell said she was delighted to see Obama spend time with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. "I like the fact that he was around people in the military," she said. "I think he made an effort, as much as possible, to see what was really going on."