VOA常速英语2008年-Clinton Challenges Obama to Debate

By Kent Klein
Washington
27 April 2008

Senator Hillary Clinton is challenging her Democratic Party presidential rival, Senator Barack Obama, to a debate. The call is part of the escalating¹ rhetoric² between the two as they campaign in the central state of Indiana. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

Clinton is trailing Obama in delegates and in the popular vote, and she has been putting pressure on him to hold more debates before the May 6 primary elections in Indiana and the Southern state of North Carolina. On Saturday, Clinton called for a 90-minute debate without a moderator. "I hope we will be able to have a good old-fashioned Lincoln-Douglas debate right here in Indiana, so that you can see for yourself to make the decision about who our next President should be," she said.

The style of debating where each side presents an argument gets its name from the 1858 debates in Illinois between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.

Obama's campaign aides say they are studying the debate request. Obama has complained that in the last debate, on April 16th, the moderators focused too much on political trivia and too little on real issues.

Clinton told a crowd in South Bend, Indiana Saturday she is focusing on the substance of the issues, while Obama is relying on style. "I have been very specific across Indiana and America to talk about solutions, because my campaign is about solutions, not speeches. It is about working to make the changes that we know we must have," she said.

At a rally in Anderson, Indiana, Obama responded to critics who say he has not been tough enough in responding to Clinton's verbal jabs. "I am not interested in fighting people just for the sake of scoring political points or getting on the cable news shows. If I am going to fight somebody, it is going to be fighting over the American people and what they need. I will fight for health care. I will fight for a good education system. I will fight to make sure that people have good jobs and good wages. I will fight to the death to make sure that America is safe. Those things I will fight for. That is what I will fight about," he said.

Polls show that Obama has a substantial lead in North Carolina, and that in Indiana, the two Democrats³ are either even or Obama has a slight lead.

 

The presumptive Republican nominee⁴, Senator John McCain, did not make any campaign appearances Saturday, after appearing in the Southern state of Arkansas Friday with former Governor Mike Huckabee, a one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination⁵.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

3 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》

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。