美国国家公共电台 NPR--The DNC may alter the 2024 presidential nominating calendar

The DNC may alter the 2024 presidential nominating calendar

Transcript¹

Iowa's caucuses³ are the first nominating contest in presidential politics. The red state is fighting to keep its place as the Democratic National Committee prioritizes diverse and competitive states.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Iowa has long been the first state to choose a presidential nominee⁵. But that may change this week when members of the Democratic National Committee will decide on the 2024 presidential nominating calendar. Iowa Public Radio's Clay Masters reports.

CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE⁶: How did the only Iowan in these calendar talks feel going into these DNC meetings?

SCOTT BRENNAN: Terrified (laughter).

MASTERS: That's Scott Brennan, a longtime member of the committee and a two-time former state party chair.

BRENNAN: The former head of the DNC, Tom Perez, hated caucuses, and so I knew going into 2022 that it was going to be an uphill battle the whole way.

MASTERS: But it's almost December, and Iowa is still first - for now. Members on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee say they want states that are competitive in a general election going early. They favor primaries over caucuses and diverse states. That's a lot going against Iowa. Brennan argues the early window of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina results in Democrats⁷ winning the popular vote.

BRENNAN: That's how the process should work. Sometimes you get a Barack Obama who comes out of Iowa, and that carries him on. But if you recall, even in '08, Barack Obama won Iowa, and then Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire.

MASTERS: The state party has proposed changes to the caucuses to please the group. People would mail in presidential preference cards. They'd be counted on caucus² night, when a winner would be declared. This summer, Iowa was among 16 states and Puerto Rico auditioning⁸ in D.C. to go early. Some of the members seemed interested in replacing Iowa with another Midwestern state. Here's committee member Mo Elleithee in July discussing the presentations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MO ELLEITHEE: Minnesota, I thought, was very strong. Michigan was very strong. And I give a lot of credit to Iowa for hearing the concerns of this committee and reimagining what their caucus could look like.

MASTERS: The committee planned to make a decision in August but pushed it until after the midterm. So how did the midterm go in Iowa for Democrats?

RAS SMITH: We kind of got our butts⁹ kicked across the board.

MASTERS: That's Ras Smith from Waterloo, Iowa. He's a former Democratic state lawmaker. Like he said, Democrats didn't have a great election night. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds was reelected by 19 points. Senator Chuck Grassley also won by double digits¹⁰. And the last remaining Democrat⁴ in Iowa's D.C. delegation¹¹ lost. Smith was a rising star. He launched a bid for governor but dropped out when he couldn't get support from his own party. He has a lot of problems with the Iowa Democratic Party but still argues the Iowa caucuses should be early in the calendar, partly because it's less costly¹² to run here.

SMITH: Maybe this is old school, but at 35, I hold dear to the process of connecting with another human being to talk about our issues. If you lose that, then you're just paying for elections, and that's not representative of democracy, right? That's not a people-first government.

MASTERS: There's also a state law that says Iowa's caucuses have to go before any other primary election, and the Republican Legislature won't change that. There are Democrats here who don't fault the national party for wanting to move on. Vanessa Marcano-Kelly became an American citizen before the 2020 caucuses. She volunteered for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, then caucused¹³ for him. She's disappointed national Democrats don't see the Iowa caucuses as diverse and multicultural¹⁴. Ahead of the DNC meeting in December, she knows it could be the end of an era.

VANESSA MARCANO-KELLY: I wasn't part of that era for too long. I think I was only able to participate just one time. And so in the one time that I did get to participate, it's kind of a disconnect because it's like, I participated in a bilingual caucus that had child care and, you know, heard of other caucuses that were being run in four languages simultaneously¹⁵.

MASTERS: The full DNC would need to finalize¹⁶ any decision early next year. Meanwhile, Republicans flirting¹⁷ with a presidential run will be spending time in Iowa with or without the Democrats.

For NPR News, I'm Clay Masters in Des Moines.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

3 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• 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

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• 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。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• 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。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

8 auditioning   

vi.试听（audition的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth. 她试演了麦克佩斯夫人的角色。
• Which part are you auditioning for? 你试音什么角色？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

10 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 caucused   

v.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的过去式 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

14 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

15 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

16 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

17 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分