时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2014年(十月)


英语课

 


Republicans Frame Midterm Election as Referendum on Obama


President Barack Obama’s name will not appear on ballots 2 across the country next Tuesday but Republicans have done a pretty good job of convincing voters otherwise.


Americans head to the polls on November 4 to elect a new Congress and how the elections turn out will have a major impact on President Obama’s final two years in office.  And the way the polls look right now, the president should prepare for an even more difficult last two years in office if Republicans are able to capitalize on the sour public mood and retake a majority in the Senate as well as bolster 3 their majority in the House of Representatives.


In one sense, the 2014 midterm election is Barack Obama’s final campaign, one last chance to win over voters and help Democrats 5 hold their majority in the Senate.  And surprisingly the president has not been shy about acknowledging that his policies are subject to public scrutiny 6.


“Now, I am not on the ballot 1 this fall,” he said in a recent speech in Illinois. “ Michelle (his wife) is pretty happy about that.  But make no mistake.  These policies are on the ballot, every single one of them.”


That was music to the ears of many Republicans across the country including North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis, who is in a tight race with incumbent 7 Democratic Senator Kay Hagan.


“If you want the same failed policies of President Obama, you’d vote for Kay Hagan,” Tillis said.


Hagan, like so many Democrats in swing states (a state that could elect either a Democrat 4 or Republican) and states that lean Republican, has been forced to run away from the president and his policies.


“Speaker Tillis wants to make this race about the president,” Hagan said. “This race is about who is going to represent North Carolina.”


The Republican effort to put President Obama front and center in this year’s election has already paid dividends 8, said American Enterprise Institute political scholar Norm Ornstein.


“You have individual candidates who have some serious weaknesses and the best way to go around that is to nationalize an election at a time when people are unhappy and believing that things are out of control and the government’s not working and the president is not competent,” he said.


Obama dragging democrats down


President Obama’s dismal 9 public approval ratings, some of the lowest of his presidency 10, have caused many Democrats to keep a distance.


Frank Newport of the Gallup Polling organization said the public is down about the president’s handling of the economy and foreign policy, especially with the rise of the Islamic State group in the Middle East.


“Just about a quarter of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States and that is low,” Newport said. “You can do the math and that means about three-quarters of Americans are not satisfied, so I would say the mood in general is not great.”


Karlyn Bowman, who monitors public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute, said the voter mood this year reflects long term pessimism 11 about the economy and the future of the country.


“You’ve got a kind of passive dissatisfaction and I think that is related to aftershocks from the Great Recession and the financial crash in 2008,” she said. “We just haven’t seen a public opinion recovery of the kinds that we have seen in the past and the public is disengaged overall.”


Bowman added that many voters see this year’s midterms as an opportunity to register their unhappiness with the direction of the country and how the president is handling major issues.


“He won’t be on the ballot of course and usually around six in 10 people tell the pollsters that he won’t be a factor in their vote,” Bowman said.  “Of the remainder, however, more people describe the vote as a vote against the president than for him.”


Uneasy electorate 12


Public concerns about Ebola and the threat of Islamic State terrorists have voters on edge, said Thomas Mann, a congressional scholar the Brookings Institution.


“It contributes to an environment in which people feel, well, the president just doesn’t have this under control,” he said.


President Obama has campaigned in relatively 13 safe Democratic-leaning states like Illinois and Maryland.  And where he does campaign, such as a recent rally in Maryland on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown, he is quick to blame Republicans for political gridlock.


“You know they are against me,” he said. “We know that.  You all know that if I propose something, they are against it.”


The president and his fellow Democrats are at a disadvantage this year, said analyst 14 John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center.


“One, midterm elections tend to go against the president no matter what,” he said. “And two, the president isn’t doing so well in public opinion polls.  He is at about 40 to 42 percent of people thinking he’s doing a good job.”


Democrats have welcomed campaign help from first lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.


At a recent rally in Illinois, Bill Clinton tried to dissuade 16 voters from looking at the midterm elections as a referendum on President Obama.


“All of our friends in the other party are just relentlessly 17 attacking the president and acting 18 like this is a referendum on that,” he said. “It’s not.  It’s about you and your future.”


Power balance shifts


For Mann of the Brookings Institution, a Republican majority in the senate would likely mean a continuation of years of partisan 15 political gridlock on Capitol Hill.


“Divided party government in a time of extreme partisan polarization is a formula for vehement 19 oppositional 20 politics and gridlock,” he said. “But I mean it has been mean and nasty and oppositional, ugly and unproductive—so how much worse can it get?”


Most political experts believe Republicans are likely to win a majority in the Senate in November, setting up Republican control of both the Senate and House of Representatives for the final two years of the Obama presidency.


 “I would say that it looks like the Senate is likely to end up in Republican hands,” said Henry Olsen who monitors U.S. politics for the Ethics 21 and Public Policy Center.  “The question would be the degree of the majority and exactly which people (candidates) are going to be coming (to Washington).”


Democrats still hold to the hope they will pull off enough upsets in Senate races to somehow cling to their majority.  Anywhere from 10 to 12 Senate races are close enough to be within the margin 22 of error in polling, and that has given Democrats enough encouragement to keep fighting right up until Election Day in states like North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, Arkansas, Georgia and Louisiana.


Republicans need a net gain of six seats now held by Democrats to win an outright 23 majority in the Senate and the polls show Republicans leading in most of the key Senate races around the country in the final days of the campaign, but by slim margins 24


Gallup’s Newport said a Republican takeover of the Senate would shift the balance of power in Washington, creating the atmosphere for even more partisan gridlock as President Obama prepares for his last two years in the White House.


“And if the Senate did tip over so that the Republicans had majority control that would make it even more difficult for the president to try to get things passed or to work with Congress since both houses would be controlled by the opposition,” Newport said.



n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票
  • The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
  • The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。
n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 );选举;选票;投票总数v.(使)投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )
  • They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励
  • The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
  • He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后,他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.详细检查,仔细观察
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
adj.成为责任的,有义务的;现任的,在职的
  • He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
  • It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。
红利( dividend的名词复数 ); 股息; 被除数; (足球彩票的)彩金
  • Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
  • Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的
  • That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
  • My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
n.悲观者,悲观主义者,厌世者
  • He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
  • There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。
n.全体选民;选区
  • The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
  • He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。
adv.比较...地,相对地
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒
  • In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中,他们忘掉一切党派之争。
  • The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
v.劝阻,阻止
  • You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
  • I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。
adv.不屈不挠地;残酷地;不间断
  • The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
  • He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她,拒不接受“不”的回答。
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的
  • She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
  • His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。
反对的,对抗的
  • I wish to forcefully grasp fragile and entirely oppositional poles, allowing them to coexist. 我想要强押起脆弱的、完全相斥的两端,让他们共存。
  • Robot Soccer game is an international and high-tech oppositional activity that develops rapidly in recent years. 机器人足球比赛是近年来在国际上迅速开展起来的高技术对抗活动。
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准
  • The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
  • Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘
  • We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
  • The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的
  • If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事,你应该直率地对我说。
  • You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。
边( margin的名词复数 ); 利润; 页边空白; 差数
  • They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
  • To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙,加左或者右的margins来定义链接。
学英语单词
acrylic crown
alcocer
aqueductus cerebri
as grave as a judge
autofactory
automatic ventilation
available assets
awakenments
be on the binge
beam instabilities
Blagoveshchenskaya
body cheak chain eye
branchwood collecting machine
bush beans
Butomopsis latifolia
butt nugget
Cappeln
centering unloading
chavous
contra-lode
Cupula, Pico
cutting die
cytoplasmatic filaments
delay-time telemetry
dialogicalities
direct coupled type
discolith
dracons
duettist
emergency organization
estimated tax returns
etanterol
eye-sights
farmyard manure distributor
fish-and-chip shop
flavacin
fourth generation of nuclear power reactor
furnace charging conveyer
gas scale
gaseous electrical discharge
general purpose application program
give thought to
Gwada
gymnocyst
hedge hop
hematin
Holtrop
hour rate
hydroquinone
illness-free
Indigofera glandulifera
injucund
insident
internal linear transformation
keon
Kombinats
Lahad Datu
laminated sheet iron
mana weave
many a
matte-black
membrane element
meteorology of fishery
minaj
Murrumbidgee River
mylns
ne'ertheless
north forty
o.t.c
Obenstrohe
omnicadiogram
onset of nucleate boiling
order Nudibranchia
outmachine
over-eat
over-wall manipulator
Phoenicopteriformes
placenta respiration
Polovinskiy Rayon
property painter
pseudointegration
quiraing
racial antipathy
rapid hardening portland cement
record description format
scolecobasidium tropicum
serfe
single-ends
smoking-gun
Stac
subdifferential mapping
Sulcus intermedius posterior
sushi
synergetical principle
tahiras
take advantage of
take for a walk
the road not taken
total error corrector
westsidest
yellow loosestrife
zymohexases