美国国家公共电台 NPR French Presidential Candidate Macron Takes Page From American Political Playbook

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This weekend, France holds the first round of its presidential election.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The future of Europe is set to be on the line. One candidate, Marine¹ Le Pen, opposes immigration and more broadly opposes the European Union, which is already losing Britain. The other three leading candidates favor the E.U.

INSKEEP: And they include political newcomer Emmanuel Macron. His supporters are gathering² voters for him using a tactic³ imported from the United States of America. That's right. France gave the U.S. the Statue of Liberty, and now, Jake Cigainero reports, the United States has given France campaign workers going door to door.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Bonjour.

JAKE CIGAINERO, BYLINE⁴: The French rarely knock on their neighbors' doors, so asking a stranger to talk politics during election season is something new. Twenty-five-year-old Cristelle Dernon has decided⁵ to step out of her comfort zone for her presidential pick, Emmanuel Macron.

CRISTELLE DERNON: I wouldn't say that it's normal. People are quite surprised that we just knock on their doors to talk about politics. They're not used to that.

CIGAINERO: Dernon makes her way into a social housing complex in the 18th district of Paris, a working-class neighborhood. People here used to vote socialist⁶. But this year, many say they are undecided, which makes them a prime target for Macron's volunteers.

DERNON: (Speaking in French).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking in French).

CIGAINERO: This woman says her husband is a taxi driver who has lost 30 percent of his business to Uber.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking French) Uber (speaking French).

GREENE: Macron supports the ride-share service, but the woman is open to persuasion⁷. Dernon explains the candidate's policy to create more jobs and leaves a brochure. Another call results in a heated 10-minute debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking French).

DERNON: (Speaking French).

CIGAINERO: Dernon says it's the undecided voters that excite her the most.

DERNON: Because the guy was actually unsure about his vote. And just for having us and discussing with us, he was actually convinced in the end. And I think he will help us relay the program and everything to his friends and family.

CIGAINERO: It's a tactic borrowed from another politician who, like Macron, was an inexperienced newcomer when he first appeared on the scene. His name was Barack Obama.

LEX PAULSON: What we've seen is that, in all the political science studies, going door-to-door, having an exchange face-to-face - it raises the chance of persuading someone to vote by eight to 10 times.

CIGAINERO: Lex Paulson is an American who worked on Obama's 2008 bid. He now teaches political science in Paris and is an unpaid⁸ adviser⁹ to Macron. Paulson says he's hearing the same frustrations¹⁰ from French voters that he heard when he worked for Obama.

PAULSON: It feels like the stakes are exactly the same here and maybe even more urgent now that America has gone the direction it's gone. I think that this is the most important campaign in the world right now.

CIGAINERO: If Macron does make it to the second round, he's likely to meet extreme-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the runoff. He's hoping the new tactic of talking to voters on their doorsteps will help him win enough national support to defeat Le Pen and become the next president of France. For NPR News, I'm Jake Cigainero in Paris.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLOW DANCING SOCIETY'S "I"M NOT READY YET")

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

4 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

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 persuasion   

n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派

参考例句：

• He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说，他才决定离开。
• After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后，她同意去了。

8 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。