VOA常速英语2008年-Mississippi Primary Voters Choose Between Obama

By Greg Flakus
Houston
11 March 2008

Voters in the southern state of Mississippi are going to the polls in that state's Democratic Party presidential primary.  Opinion polls put Senator Barack Obama in first place, but, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, Senator Hillary Clinton is likely to almost evenly split the state's 33 delegates.

More than half of Mississippi's Democratic voters are African-Americans, a segment of the voting population that has favored Barack Obama in past contests and they are expected to help him win Tuesday's primary as well.  Obama, whose father was from Kenya and whose mother was white, is likely to win more than half the votes, but Hillary Clinton will take away almost as many delegates.

In Democratic contests the delegates are divided proportionally according the number of votes won by each candidate.  Clinton is behind Obama by about 100 delegates at this point, but she is counting on a big win in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22.  Polls show she has an advantage there.

Mississippi is a poor state and often lands at or near the bottom of national lists on such matters as rural poverty, educational achievement and school financing.  Issue of concern for voters include the economy, health care, job creation and the war in Iraq.

On the eve of the Mississippi primary, as both candidates appeared around the state, a controversy¹ flared² over Clinton remarks that seemed to suggest she would be willing to name Obama as her running mate.

"I have had people say to me, 'I wish I could vote for both of you.'  Well, that might be possible some day," she said.

Obama responded by rejecting the notion that he would accept the second-place spot on the ticket with Clinton.

"I do not know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice³ presidency⁴ to someone who is in first place," he said.

Obama is also expressing irritation⁵ over assertions by Clinton that he is not experienced enough to take on the job of commander in chief.  He questioned how Clinton could see him as a potential vice presidential candidate if she does not believe he is ready for such responsibility.

Democratic leaders are concerned that such rhetorical skirmishes between the two candidates may help Republicans by giving them ideas on how to attack whichever of the two wins the Democratic nomination⁶.  Senator John McCain, who has clinched⁷ the Republican nomination, has been able to concentrate on building his team and financial resources for the November election, while the Democrats⁸ still struggle to finalize⁹ their selection process.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

3 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。

4 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。

5 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

6 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。

7 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

8 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》

9 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。