美国国家公共电台 NPR Voters Back Home Don't Mind If Mark Meadows Bucks Authority

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And let's return home to this divided country. Mark Meadows has a reputation as sort of a right-wing rebel. He is chair of the Freedom Caucus¹ in Congress. He and three dozen or so House conservatives helped kill the Republican health care bill. NPR's Geoff Bennett went to Meadows' district in western North Carolina to see if voters like his approach.

GEOFFREY BENNETT, BYLINE²: Historic downtown Hendersonville is a vibrant³ 16-block stretch of art galleries, restaurants, boutique clothing stores and Christian⁴ bookshops. I met Carla Craig on Main Street. And we talked about her Congressman⁵, Mark Meadows, and his role in tanking the GOP's health care replacement⁶ plan.

CARLA CRAIG: That was kind of gutsy for him to do that, you know, because I'm sure there's a lot of people in North Carolina who wanted him to get on the Trump⁷ train.

BENNETT: Craig is retired⁸, although she still works part time.

CRAIG: I was concerned that Trump was just going to sign any, you know, replacement for Obamacare without considering whether it was going to lower premiums⁹. And from what I heard from the Freedom Caucus was that it was not going to lower premiums. And then, what were the people who supported Trump going to do when their premiums continued to go up? So I was kind of happy that it failed as it did.

BENNETT: Bill Lures¹⁰ moved to Hendersonville from Richmond, Va., six years ago. Like Carla Craig, he's also semi-retired and has strong feelings about Mark Meadows.

BILL LURES: He's kind of trying to say, hey, let's not rush this through. But he's putting the brakes on, and he's catching¹¹ a lot of heat for it.

BENNETT: Catching heat in Washington, not here in Hendersonville, where nearly everyone I spoke¹² with on Main Street knew Mark Meadows by name and spoke highly of him and his approach. That holds true about 10 miles away, up a winding¹³ mountain road in the farming town of Mills River.

LARRY FREEMAN: The town of Mills River is situated¹⁴ in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's a...

BENNETT: That booming voice belongs to Larry Freeman. He's the mayor of Mills River and pulls double duty as a host on WHKP, the local talk radio station.

FREEMAN: Those of us who do support the caucus and - feel like it's about time that someone speaks up for those of us who are solidly conservative individuals. And we're just grateful that they're out there.

BENNETT: Mark Meadows' 11th District is best known for being home to North Carolina's share of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was also once known as the most politically competitive district in the entire state, one that was once represented by a moderate Democrat¹⁵, the former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler.

But in 2011, North Carolina's Republican Legislature redrew the districts lines, turning it solidly red. Meadows ran for Congress the following year and won his race handily. In the two elections since 2012, Meadows has increased his margins¹⁶ of victory.

Despite his solid footing in the district, liberal groups are taking a shot. Chelsea White is a Democrat who grew up here. After the election, she co-founded a grassroots group called Progressive Nation.

CHELSEA WHITE: We are pretty upset about it. And we do think that while he voted against the repeal¹⁷, he did it for the wrong reasons. And I know I'm not alone in this.

BENNETT: Chelsea says her group is focused on preserving the Affordable¹⁸ Care Act and opposing Mark Meadows. It's going to be an uphill battle, says Chris Cooper, who teaches political science at Western Carolina University.

CHRIS COOPER: We're talking about a third-term member of Congress who's winning with large margins in a district that was never nationally prominent until this moment.

BENNETT: And that's the dilemma¹⁹ facing Republican leaders in Washington who try to rein²⁰ in the conservative Freedom Caucus and its chairman Mark Meadows. Meadows has little incentive²¹ since most voters here in his district are eager to support him. Geoff Bennett, NPR News, Hendersonville, N.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE HALIFAX PIER'S "STRANGE NEWS FROM ANOTHER STAR")

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

7 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。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 lures   

吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式）

参考例句：

• He left home because of the lures of life in the city. 他离家是由于都市生活的诱惑。
• Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures men down to the depths of the earth. 可能正是寻觅幽静的去处，或者找个猎奇的机会的欲望引诱着人们进入地球的深处。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 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。

13 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

14 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

15 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。

16 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

17 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

18 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

19 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

20 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

21 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。