美国国家公共电台 NPR The Wave Of Female Candidates Is Set For A Wave Of Losses, Come November

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Let's talk midterm elections now. The enthusiasm of Democrats¹ is a major force shaping this year's crop of candidates. Among the results of a newly energized² Democratic Party, far more women are running and expected to run in this election cycle than ran in 2014. A new NPR analysis shows, though, that a large number of those women will likely lose. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has been reporting that story, and she's with us now. Hello.

DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE³: Hello.

MARTIN: So why is there a wave of women candidates right now?

KURTZLEBEN: Yes. There is a wave. And let's get into why. A key point here is that the wave is, by far, largely among Democratic women. You've seen a small bump among GOP women, as well. But it's mostly Democrats. And one big thing behind that wave - I've asked, you know, several women who are newly running for office this year, why are you running? And Donald Trump⁴ almost always comes up. He has very low approval ratings, especially among Democratic women. They often mention his, you know, sexual misconduct allegations, the infamous⁵ "Access Hollywood" tape and also his policies. You know, especially in areas like health care, I've had multiple candidates mention that.

But in addition, a lot of Democratic women just loved Hillary Clinton. And when they saw her lose, even though she lost, they were inspired by her. Aside from that, you have the #MeToo moment, and that really does cross party lines. There is a sense among many women that they are standing⁶ up for themselves, that men in power have behaved badly and that it's time for women to take charge.

MARTIN: And did you just say that there was a small bump among Republican women, as well?

KURTZLEBEN: Yes. Yes.

MARTIN: Well, why do you think that this wave of women candidates will mean a wave of women losing?

KURTZLEBEN: Well, because I went through the numbers, and what I found is that of this great big wave of women running, a big share are women who are running in races that will just be really hard for them to win. So once again, most of that wave is on the Democratic side. And nearly half of nonincumbent Democratic women who are running for governorships or Congress - nearly half of those are running in races that are considered either likely or safe Republican wins in November. Similarly, if you look at those Republican women, of which there are fewer, one-third of them are running in safe or likely Democratic wins.

MARTIN: But are there any women running in competitive districts? So is it possible that we could see an increase in the number of women in Congress?

KURTZLEBEN: Yes, absolutely. So while women are concentrated in some of those tough races, especially the Democratic women, there are also more women running in races that are considered toss0ups this year. So there is plenty of room for women to get more seats. I mean, keep in mind that Congress right now is only around 20 percent women. And, you know, more than half of the electorate⁷ is women. So women are not proportionally represented in Congress - their share of the electorate.

But one key thing to keep in mind is that these numbers that I'm talking about - they give us some perspective. The number of women has gone up sharply this year, and that is definitely noteworthy. But the share of candidates that are women has only gone up modestly. What we've seen is also a swelling⁸ in men who are running for Congress, as well, and governorships. So part of what we're seeing here is also that the Democratic Party has a strategy of contesting even the hardest races this year. And they're putting people up of both sexes to try to win those.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, are there other reasons to run in a race that you know you're likely to lose? Like, for example, is there some benefit to the experience or the exposure that you might get?

KURTZLEBEN: That's absolutely it. Yes. I mean, you know, no one is going to say - and no one does run with the intention of losing. But, you know, there are longer-term benefits to running a race, even if you lose it. You know, if you run for office this year, and you happen to lose, you've gained experience running. You may have been, you know, a newbie, but now the party, you know, respects you more, understands that, you know, you can handle this again. You have name recognition. Maybe you registered a lot of voters who are now loyal to you. So these tens of thousands of women who have come out, saying, you know, I'm interested in getting into politics more - advocates for women candidates - they don't see this as the next election's worth of candidates. They see it as the next generation's worth.

MARTIN: Well, thank you, Danielle.

KURTZLEBEN: Thank you.

MARTIN: That's NPR political reporter Danielle Kurtzleben.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOBB DEEP SONG, "FRONT LINES (HELL ON EARTH)")

1 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》

2 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

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 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

8 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。