Republican, Democratic Conventions Could Be Exciting

AS IT IS 2016-07-11 Republican, Democratic Conventions Could Be Exciting

On July 18th, Republicans begin a four-day meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, to choose their party’s candidate for president.

The following week Democrats² choose their presidential candidate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

These two conventions are likely to get more public attention than any in the past 40 years.

Not much doubt about Trump³ and Clinton

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the likely Democratic nominee⁴. And businessman Donald Trump has enough delegates to win the Republican nomination⁵.

An effort by “Never Trump Republicans” to deny him the nomination faces long odds⁶. “I think everybody understands that they lack the kind of support to pull off what they started out to do,” Bruce Ash told CNN. He is a member of the Republican convention rules committee.

Pete Hatemi, a political science professor at Penn State University, believes Trump’s trouble winning over the Republican establishment will bring more interest in the Republican convention.

And, if as expected the “dump Trump effort fails,” Hatemi said people will watch to see “what kind of speech” he gives.

Trump, who is running his first campaign for elected office, generally does not read prepared speeches. He mostly says what he thinks. Trump also uses colorful language and almost always promises to “make America great again.”

For the Democratic convention, Hatemi said people will watch to see if Clinton can win over loyal supporters of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator.

Sanders delegate not sure he will support Clinton

“I can honestly say that I don’t know if I’ll vote for Hillary Clinton,” said Shane Assadzandi, 27, of West Virginia, and a Sanders delegate. It will be his first national political convention.

Assadzandi said he knows he will vote in November and that “it won’t be for Trump.” But he has “doubts” about Clinton’s position on issues important to him, such as campaign finance reform.

“I volunteered for Bernie for the better part of a year now,” Assadzandi said. “He really walked the talk and really spoke⁸ to our concerns on the issues we care about most.” By “walk the talk,” he means somebody whose beliefs and actions matched his speeches.

A strong endorsement¹⁰ from Sanders might persuade him, he said. Sanders confirmed reports he will endorse⁹ Clinton before the Democratic convention.

11th convention for Republican delegate

In Cleveland, Gary Lavine will attend his 11th Republican convention.

Lavine, an attorney in Syracuse, New York, said the Cleveland convention will be among the most important he attended. Trump needs to have a successful convention to win the presidency¹¹, he said.

“Trump has to persuade people he is a serious candidate,” said Lavine, who supported former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination.

“Trump has to roll out a solid running mate [his vice¹² presidential candidate] and deliver a speech that says he will take care of our nation and government and this isn’t just, well, another casino deal,” Lavine said.

Unity¹³ is important

Coming out of the convention with unity is important for both candidates, said Casey Dominguez, a political science professor at the University of San Diego in California.

“History seems to indicate that a divisive convention can hurt the party's standing¹⁴ going into the general election,” Dominguez said.

The 1976 Republican and 1980 Democratic conventions were the last to have serious fights for party nominations¹⁵.

At the 1976 Republican convention, Gerald Ford¹⁶ defeated Ronald Reagan for the nomination. But he lost the 1976 presidential election to Democrat¹ Jimmy Carter.

In 1980, Carter blocked a strong challenge from Ted⁷ Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. But he went on to lose the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.

Both candidates have high negatives

Ahead of the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions, a majority of voters have negative views of both Trump and Clinton, said Hatemi of Penn State University.

The conventions will give them a chance to improve their standing with voters, he said.

Trump drew new criticism last week for praising the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He said Saddam was a “very bad guy,” but very good at killing¹⁷ terrorists “and this was a good thing.”

And the U.S. FBI director criticized Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state. James Comey, the director, said Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” But he added, “No charges are appropriate in this case.”

What goes on at a political convention?

At the conventions, there will be speeches from people saying nice things about their candidate and bad things about the opposing candidate. Trump has said he will try to build excitement with music and unusual speakers, such as sports’ stars and entertainers.

“These political conventions play a very important part in our democracy. They build unity and enthusiasm for candidates,” said Lavine, who attended his first Republican convention in 1968.

Angela Gialloreto has been to every Democratic convention since 1976, when Jimmy Carter was nominated.

“Conventions create enthusiasm and makes me feel so good that someone I believe in is willing to take the presidency and all the challenges that go with it,” she said. “It makes you feel like you really and truly are part of a great country.”

Words in This Story

establishment -- n. the people in business, government, etc., who have power over the other people in a society

endorsement -- n. to say someone supports a person for office or some other contest

mate -- n. a person who works alongside someone

deliver -- v. to say something in public

casino -- n. a building where people gamble

sensitive -- adj. needing to be handled in a careful or secret way in order to protect someone or something

classified -- adj. kept secret from all but a few people in the government

enthusiasm -- n. strong excitement about something

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 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。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

10 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• 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。

12 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。

13 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• 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。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

16 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

17 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。