VOA常速英语2008年-Obama, Clinton Focus on Pennsylvania Primary
时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(三月)
Washington
11 March 2008
For the next six weeks, the Democratic presidential race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will focus on the state of Pennsylvania. The northeastern state holds its presidential primary on April 22, and VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has a look at the strategy for both campaigns from Washington.
Barack Obama continues to lead in the delegate count for the Democratic nomination 1, but Hillary Clinton's victories in the large states of Texas and Ohio have propelled her back into the race.
Clinton has had some success in raising questions about Obama's readiness to be president and commander and chief, and it is likely she will continue that line of attack in the weeks to come.
"Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign," Clinton said. "I will bring a lifetime of experience, and Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference."
Public-opinion polls give Clinton the edge in Pennsylvania, though recent surveys show Obama cutting into her advantage.
Pennsylvania is similar to Ohio in its demographic makeup 2, with lots of working class voters and women who have tended to support Clinton over Obama in most of the other Democratic caucuses 3 and primaries.
Stuart Rothenberg publishes a political newsletter in Washington and was a guest on VOA's Encounter program:
"You have to understand that Senator Clinton has been performing much better among certain kinds of voters, Latino voters, older voters, women voters and downscale voters, that is very partisan 4 Democrats 5 who have come from less affluent 6 families and have less formal education. Senator Obama has been doing very well with independents, with younger voters, with, of course, African-Americans and with upscale voters, high education, high income voters," Rothenberg said.
Clinton hopes to raise enough questions about Obama and his experience that even though he leads in the delegate count, some of the so-called super delegates may be drawn 7 to support her at the Democrat's national nominating convention in August.
Super delegates are party activists 8 and elected Democratic officials who attend the convention as uncommitted delegates, and can decide to support whomever they want.
In recent days, Obama has fired back at Clinton's claims about his experience, and continues to cite her initial support of the Iraq war as a key point of difference between the two of them.
"I believe I offer a clean break from the policies of George Bush, because Senator Clinton went along with George Bush on the war in Iraq," Obama said. "Senator Clinton went along with George Bush on her willingness to try to saber-rattle when it came to Iran."
Obama will be targeting super delegates in his strategy as well. Obama is expected to maintain his lead in the delegate count through the end of the primary season in June. But he will need help from some of the super delegates at the convention to give him enough additional votes to secure the party nomination.
Political expert John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute is keeping a close eye on the battle for uncommitted super delegates.
"If the super delegates provide a little bit extra margin 9 needed to get over the top, I do not think that is controversial in itself, and it has happened in the past," Fortier said. "The controversial scenario 10 is that the candidates are relatively 11 close and the candidate who is behind in pledged delegates gets more super delegates and throws him or herself over the top. And that is the scenario some people speculate for Hillary Clinton."
While Clinton has re-energized her campaign in recent weeks, many experts note public-opinion polls that suggest Obama would be the stronger general election candidate against Republican John McCain.
Analyst 12 Stuart Rothenberg expects Obama to emphasize this point in the weeks ahead.
"I did want to raise one problem that I think she has in Pennsylvania and from now on, which is this issue of electability," Rothenberg said. "If you look at all the national polls, she does not run as well against Senator McCain as Barack Obama does."
Uncommitted super delegates like Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania will be watching the campaign unfold in the weeks to come. Casey told MSNBC television that he is concerned about pulling the Democratic Party together once the bruising 13 nomination battle between Obama and Clinton is settled.
"I think our nominee 14 has a chance not just to win, but to win with a mandate 15," Casey said. "But you cannot win with a mandate if you do not bring the sides together. So we are looking forward to a continuing vigorous debate, but I think we are going to have to work hard on unity 16."
Democrats will not have much time to unify 17 the party after their national convention in late August. In contrast, the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, has begun that task with months to go until the Republicans formally ratify 18 him as their candidate at their national convention in early September.
- John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
- Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
- Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
- Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗?
- Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网
- 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。
- 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》
- He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
- His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。
- All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
- Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
- His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
- Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- 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。
- But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
- This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。
- 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。
- 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。
- He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
- He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了,一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句
- His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
- Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。
- The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
- The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。
- When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
- We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
- How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢?
- It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。