摇摆州成美总统候选人制胜砝码

Candidates Busily Seeking Support in ‘Swing States’ 摇摆州成美总统候选人制胜砝码

Pennsylvania television stations are broadcasting so many political advertisements that not even a small child can miss them.

So, it was no surprise last week when two-and-a-half-year-old Benson Wyland repeated these words to customers and employees at a Chili’s Restaurant: “I’m Donald Trump² and I approve this message.”

Everyone laughed. Those are the words Trump and almost all candidates say at the end of their political messages.

Trump is the Republican candidate for president. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate.

Both candidates are campaigning hard in Pennsylvania. Winning the state and its 20 Electoral College votes might decide who wins the presidential election and replaces Barack Obama.

Election Day is Tuesday.

The candidate with the most votes does not necessarily win. The winner is decided⁴ by the 538 members of the Electoral College. Each state and the District of Columbia has Electoral College votes, based on population. Pennsylvania is tied with the state of Illinois for fifth most Electoral College votes with 20.

Both the Clinton and Trump campaigns are spending a lot of time seeking votes in Pennsylvania’s Dauphin County. It is located in the central part of the state.

Over the weekend, both Trump and Vice⁵ President Joe Biden gave speeches in the county. Biden, a Democrat³, was born in Pennsylvania and is campaigning for Clinton.

Six percent more Dauphin County voters supported Democrats⁶ Barack Obama and Joe Biden over Republicans Mitt⁷ Romney and Paul Ryan in the 2012 presidential election. The vote helped the Democrats win Pennsylvania and the presidential election that year.

The Phone Keeps Ringing

“We’re getting a lot of phone calls and four, five or six pieces of mail each day about the election,” said Carol Brechbill. "We don’t even jump up to answer the telephone unless we know who is calling us.”

Brechbill is a Democrat who says she is open to voting for a moderate Republican.

“But Trump is way out there, calling women names and defaming people,” she said.

Brechbill said Clinton, unlike Trump, is well prepared to take over the most important job in the United States government.

Brechbill said it is “reassuring” that FBI Director James Comey said on Sunday he has not changed his conclusion that Clinton should not face any charges for her handling of emails as U.S. secretary of state. Comey made the announcement Sunday after the FBI studied newly discovered emails.

Jeff Haste is a Republican who serves on the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners⁸, the local governing board.

He first supported Marco Rubio and later Ted¹ Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination⁹. But both dropped out of the race after Trump won more votes in the Republican primary elections.

Haste said he now solidly supports Trump. He forgives Trump for the comments he made about both Rubio and Cruz. For example, Trump said without evidence that Cruz’ father played a role in the assassination¹⁰ of President John Kennedy in 1963.

“I’m an elected official and I know things are said in a political campaign that are taken back once people get elected,” Haste said.

Haste said he believes Trump will make the changes needed in the American government to help middle class workers find better jobs.

That does not mean he is happy with some of Trump’s statements about women and immigrants.

Haste’s wife is of Latin American ancestry¹¹. He said they had a long talk after the October 7 release of a recording¹² of Trump from 11 years ago. In the recording, Trump can be heard saying he can touch and kiss women without their permission because he is well-known.

Not Voting for a Friend

“I’m not voting for a friend,” Haste said of the election. “I might want to punch him out for some of the things he said. But I’m voting for president and I think he can do a lot of good for the country.”

Carol Brechbill said she cannot understand people willing to put aside “Trump’s insults” and, in her words, “lack of specifics on how he would govern.”

“To me, his behavior makes him totally unqualified to be president. I’m amazed that some very intelligent people are willing to overlook his comments and behavior,” Brechbill said.

Traveling to Swing States

On Saturday and Sunday, voters from states where the election results are not in doubt travelled to swing states like Pennsylvania to campaign.

Donna Greene lives in Westchester County in New York State. New York is a state that is expected to give a big majority of its votes to Clinton. Over the weekend, Green made her second trip to Pennsylvania to campaign for Clinton.

Green has made telephone calls and has visited peoples’ homes in support of Clinton. She marks down the names of people who say they plan to vote for Clinton.

She gives the information to the Clinton campaign. On Election Day, the campaign will remind people to vote, and, if needed, help bring them to the voting place.

Green reminded voters that their voting place had changed, while campaigning a few weeks ago in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

Some people did not know.

“Maybe, for some people that information means they will vote, instead of showing up at the wrong place and giving up and going home without voting,” Green said.

Haste said he knows most people consider Clinton to have a big advantage in terms of get-out-the-vote efforts.

But he said Trump supporters also are well organized. The Trump campaign is using social media networks effectively to reach voters, he said.

“Right now there is a lot of energy for our candidate, Donald Trump,” Haste said.

Words in This Story

defame - v. to hurt the reputation of someone by saying things that are false or unfair

primary - n. an election in which members of the same political party run against each other for the chance to be in a more important election or serve in a party position.

assassination - n. to kill a famous or important person, usually for political reasons

unqualified - adj. not having the skills, knowledge, or experience needed to do a particular job or activity

amazed - adj. feeling or showing great surprise

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 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。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 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》

7 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

8 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• 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。

10 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

11 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。