WASHINGTON -- U.S. vice presidents are hardly remembered, and the view here generally is that the nominees contribute little to the electability of a would-be president unless they come from a major state. More importantly, their role in the day-to-day conduct of U.S. administrations, in the domestic or foreign spheres, is usually limited, if not marginal.

Middle East leaders and policymakers welcomed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama with open arms a few weeks ago, but they had better start preparing to deal with President John McCain.

The United States is the worlds hyper-power -- since the collapse of communism, there has been no debate about that: Serbia, Iraq -- twice, and Afghanistan have all proven no match for the awesome high tech power of the U.S. armed forces: But as President George W. Bush concentrates U.S. naval forces ominously close to the shores of Iran, we feel we have to ask: How far can that power stretch?

The Arab American community hopes to make its voice heard -- and to make a difference in the American political landscape -- in the presidential elections this coming November.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made his earlier endorsement of the surge strategy in Iraq a prominent feature of his campaign. By portraying the surge as a huge success, McCain poses as a foreign policy savant and depicts Dem. Sen. Barack Obama, who didnt favor the surge, as a candidate who "does not understand the challenges we face, and did not understand the need for the surge. And the fact that he did not understand that, and still denies that it has succeeded, I think the American people will make their judgment." Presidential hopeful John McCain might one day be embarrassed by his words. The surge might have diminished prospects for longer term peace and stability.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obamas policy on Iraq has been so prescient, so consistent and so courageously ahead of all his rivals that it is with considerable regret and some surprise that we note his latest declaration on energy independence for the United States.

Sen. John McCain has left U.S. President George W. Bush all alone in his Iraq bubble; how else to explain the Arizona senators unexpected but most welcome dramatic retreat this week from his previous implacable opposition to any American withdrawal timetable?

AMMAN -- The high-profile visit by Democratic presidential frontrunner Senator Barack Obama to the Middle East this week seems to have constituted a reality check that regardless of the changes Obama might bring to America if he takes over the White House, U.S. policy in the region will remain unchanged.

U.S. Senator Barack Obama and the Middle East escaped very nearly but not quite unscathed as his presidential campaign paraded through the region this week.

AMMAN -- On his first visit to the volatile Middle East as the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama sought to sell his pledge to directly engage in a peace process, should he become president, but his 36-hour stop in Israel – with a little time in the West Bank – appeared more of a campaign attempt to win over Jewish votes back in the United States.