密歇根新闻广播 密州的选民们能够改变些什么吗?

When the current presidential campaign began, there were two things on which the expert talking heads agreed. Bernie Sanders was a far-out fringe candidate, and Donald Trump¹ was a carnival² sideshow who would be gone long before the snow melted.

Well, guess what?

Donald Trump is going to be the Republican presidential nominee³, despite never having run for anything before, and despite having only officially been a Republican for about four years. Bernie Sanders, of course, is not technically⁴ a Democrat⁵ at all.

He is, as the world now knows, a proud Democratic socialist⁶. Barring some kind of act of God, Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee—but he has won nineteen states, including Michigan, and is likely to win a few more.

Trump and Sanders are political polar opposites, but they have one big thing in common. They believe the system is no longer working, and they are appealing directly to those who are mad as hell and don't want to take it anymore.

Many American—possibly most of us—feel that way. Hillary Clinton, for whom the system has worked just fine, doesn't appear to have a clue.

Neither did the now half-forgotten Jeb Bush, who the experts predicted would be the Republican nominee. Clinton is on track to win the nomination⁷, thanks mostly to overwhelming support from minority voters and party officials.

But she is losing eighty percent or more of young voters to Sanders, which should be enough to make her campaign deeply worried.

And if most people feel the nation is on the wrong track, it's almost certain that even more think politics and government in Michigan are an utter mess.

There's no question that term limits, gerrymandering, and ideological⁸ blindness have nearly destroyed the ability of government to respond effectively to the state's needs.

The largest school district in Michigan is on the point of collapse⁹, but the legislature, which is entirely¹⁰ controlled by Republicans, is still divided over whether to pass the Republican governor's plan, something that would give Detroit's schools a fighting chance.

Our roads and bridges are dangerously falling apart, but the legislature for years obstinately¹¹ refused to do anything about it. Finally, last year, they did pass a bizarre bill that raises some taxes, doesn't fully¹² kick in for years, and will never provide an adequate level of funding.

What it does provide will be dependent on lawmakers slashing¹³ spending on things like education and health care by $600 million a year.

Meanwhile, State Representative Jim Stamas seemed to have little interest on conducting a real investigation¹⁴ into what happened in Flint. But he was very enthusiastic about passing a law preventing local communities from banning environmentally disastrous¹⁵ single-use plastic grocery bags.

My guess is that he made some lobbyist for a plastic bag manufacturer happy. What this state needs is a new political movement led by someone who is a combination of Trump and Sanders; someone who will lead a revolution of sorts, one in which politics and government are again based and focused on common sense.

That would take a lot of work and a lot of money. But given the condition of what used to be one of the best governed states in America, I can't imagine a more important cause.

Jack¹⁶ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst¹⁷. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 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。

2 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 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。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 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。

6 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

7 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。

8 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

16 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

17 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。