Campaign Profile: John Kerry

 

Deborah Tate

U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts is one of eight Democrats¹ hoping to deny President Bush a second term in the White House next November. Correspondent Deborah Tate has a profile of the four-term Senator and Vietnam veteran.
Senator Kerry entered the race for the Democratic Party's nomination² for president as an early favorite. He is a decorated Vietnam War veteran with years of experience in foreign and domestic policy.
But he has since fallen behind his rival, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, in public opinion polls in New Hampshire, a state which borders his home state of Massachusetts and which holds the nation's first presidential preference contest, or primary, at the end of January.
Mr. Dean's rise has been fueled by his strong opposition³ to the war in Iraq.
Mr. Kerry, who voted for the congressional resolution authorizing⁴ President Bush to go to war with Iraq, finds himself defending his support for the use of force while criticizing Mr. Bush's conduct of the war.
"My vote was 100 percent the correct vote. I do not regret it one bit," he said. "Going to the United Nations, having the power in the president to use force, that is the right thing to do, to hold the process accountable. What I regret is that this president did such a bad job at diplomacy⁵, and all of you have heard me say this, all through the lead up to the war and including on the day the president decided⁶ to go to war, when I said I would have preferred he had taken more time for diplomacy in order to build the coalition⁷ necessary."
With the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces, Mr. Kerry offers a plan for stabilizing⁸ the country, including reaching out to European countries opposed to the war in an effort to widen the international coalition supporting operations in Iraq.
"The president has a great moment here to bring people to the task of getting more people on the ground, reducing the risk to American soldiers, reducing the over-extension of our forces, and frankly⁹, reducing the cost in dollars to the American taxpayer¹⁰," he said.
Senator Kerry also calls for establishing a fair and transparent¹¹ process to try Saddam for war crimes using a tribunal of international judges working alongside Iraqis.
On other foreign policy matters, the senator says if elected president, he would seek to strengthen ties with U.S. allies angered by the U.S.-led war with Iraq. He would also appoint a special envoy¹² to the Middle East peace process and challenge Saudi Arabia on the issue of funding violent, radical¹³ groups.
Mr. Kerry is the only Democratic presidential candidate with the most combat experience, having served as a patrol boat officer during the Vietnam War, when he won a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. After he returned home, he became a leading voice against the war.
Senator Kerry has spent 19 years as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and six years on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
In an interview on CBS's Face the Nation, Mr. Kerry said his background makes him the most qualified¹⁴ Democratic candidate to challenge President Bush on national security issues.
"I think I can make America safer and stronger," he said. "I know I can hit the ground running with respect to Iraq, North Korea, aids in Africa, global warming, [nuclear] proliferation."
On the domestic front, Mr. Kerry says as president he would work to make the United States independent of Middle East oil within the next decade.
On another issue, the 60-year-old Senator promises Americans access to the same health care that members of Congress receive, noting his own recent successful battle with prostate cancer.
Mr. Kerry's critics say the candidate often can seem too hesitant, cautious, or even programmed. The senator dismisses the criticism, and in an apparent effort to prove his critics wrong, appeared on a late-night talk show, arriving on stage on his motorcycle.

注释：
profile [5prEufail] n. 简介，个性及生平的简要描述
Vietnam [7viEt5nAm] n. 越南
veteran [5vetErEn] n. 老战士，退伍军人
Massachusetts [7mAsE5tFu:sits] n. 马萨诸塞州
congressional [kEn5^reFEnEl] adj. [美] 国会的
authorize¹⁵ [5C:WEraiz] vt. 授权
preferred [pri5fd] adj. 首选的
coalition [7kEuE5liFEn] n.（政党等的）联合， 联盟
stabilizing [5steibE7laiziN] n. 稳定化处理
taxpayer [5tAks7peiE] n. 纳税人
transparent [trAns5pZErEnt] adj. 透明的
tribunal [tri5bju:nl] n. 法庭，法院
proliferation [prEu7lifE5reiFEn] n. 扩散
domestic [dE5mestik] adj. 国内的
prostate [5prCsteit] adj. 前列腺的

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 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。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

5 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

6 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。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

11 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

12 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

14 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

15 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。