密歇根新闻广播 美国有把政治当娱乐看的历史

We will not head to the polls to choose our next President for another 15 months.

Yet, candidate announcements have been raining down on us since March 23, when Ted¹ Cruz became the first major candidate to jump into the race. With 17 Republicans showing up in major polls and five Democrats², it's proving to be a crowded field.

Is it all too much, too soon? And what of the tone of these campaigns?

"Well, this far out I don't think it's terribly unusual to have a lot of people show interest. I think because of the media cycles we're into now people feel the need to declare and raise that money early," says historian Gleaves Whitney, Director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University.

But Whitney does say he was amazed by record number of people watching last Thursday's debate.

"I thought that that was a good sign that people are tuned³ in."

And he hopes voters will begin to be serious about Donald Trump⁴.

"Trump is somebody whose bubble is going to burst here before too long. He cannot sustain this faux campaign. It really isn't even a campaign. Go to his website ... there is not a position paper on the website," Whitney says.

"Neither party can have a serious discussion with Donald Trump because we don't know how he would really do the things that he talks about doing."

Whitney says Republicans seem to be tiring of Trump's antics. He hopes other contenders will begin to stand up to him "and, frankly⁵, force him to be serious or get out of the race"

But Trump isn't the only one to compete for air time with attention-grabbing antics. Ted Cruz can be seen in a recently released video cooking bacon on a gun, and Senator Lindsey Graham destroyed phones with a variety of tactics as a response to Trump giving away his phone number.

Whitney says these stunts⁶ may be heightened to attract coverage⁷ by cable television, but they're not unique to our contemporary politics. 

"I have no doubt that there were a lot of shenanigans in the past, some of our past campaigns were outrageous⁸, much more outrageous than today," he says.

According to Whitney, Debates between Lincoln and Douglas could last for hours, being viewed as a source of high entertainment. And Whitney says the campaign between Jefferson and Adams included its own mudslinging.

"Let's not fool ourselves. Let's not act too sanctimonious⁹. Americans love a clown show."

But Whitney suggests there may be some upside to American's viewing politics for amusement.

"The fact that we can take it so for granted and be so lighthearted about it and buffoonish¹⁰ about it indicates maybe, in some sense, a relative strength of our democracy."

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 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 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

9 sanctimonious   

adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的

参考例句：

• It's that sanctimonious air that people can't stand.人们所不能容忍的就是那副假正经的样子。
• You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.您不必如此伪善。

10 buffoonish   

参考例句：