Nader Candidacy Sparks Anger among Democrats

 

Jim Malone

In U.S. presidential politics, Democrats² are furious and Republicans excited by the prospect³ of another presidential run by consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Many Democrats believe Mr. Nader's 2000 campaign for president cost Democrat¹ Al Gore⁴ the White House. But this time around could be a different story.
Ralph Nader says he is running for president this year because he believes both major political parties have become dominated by corporate⁵ interests who care little about the concerns of average Americans.
"We have a moral imperative⁶ to take a stand to help rescue our besieged⁸ democracy and secure our country and its liberties," he said. "We need to restore the sovereignty explicit⁹ in the Preamble¹⁰ to our Constitution - 'We, the People' - not for sale, can decide to displace the corporate controls that try to make everything for sale."
Four years ago, Ralph Nader won less than three percent of the popular vote as the presidential candidate of the Green Party. But some Democrats blamed him for Al Gore's defeat, contending that most of the votes he won in closely contested states like Florida and New Hampshire would have put Mr. Gore in the White House had Mr. Nader not mounted a campaign.
Democrats have reacted with a mixture of anger and determination in the wake of Ralph Nader's decision to run again this year. But many political experts say it is unlikely that Mr. Nader will have the same impact on this year's election.
"Almost always, independent candidates when they try to run again, fall off badly, as much as 50 percent or more," said Professor Allan Lichtman, a presidential scholar at the American University in Washington D.C. "I suspect the Nader vote will tail off sharply this time as compared to 2000. First, because it is a re-run and secondly¹¹ because I think a lot of progressives are very angry at George W. Bush and are looking for a change, much more so, of course, than in 2000 when some of their unhappiness was directed against the Clinton administration."
Analyst¹² Craig Crawford agrees that Ralph Nader will not appeal as much to Democrats this time around. But he says the consumer advocate turned politician could become a factor in a handful of states if the election is close. He spoke¹³ on CBS television.
"I do not think he is going to get quite the support he got in 2000," he said. "But to borrow a title from his most famous book in the 1960s about car safety, to the Democrats he is 'unsafe at any speed'. Even if he does not get as many votes, he could cherry-pick a couple of states and turn the election."
Some Democrats have already lashed¹⁵ out at Mr. Nader for his decision to run again, and some are urging that he drop his candidacy in the final days of the campaign if the election appears close.
But American University's Allan Lichtman says the Democrats might want to avoid going after Mr. Nader directly.
"Nader feeds on confrontation¹⁶. It only nourishes and sustains him," he said. "The Democrats definitely should not take on Ralph Nader. They should not give him one line of additional publicity¹⁷."
Unlike four years ago, Mr. Nader cannot count on help from the Green Party to get on state ballots¹⁹ in time for the election. He now faces the daunting²⁰ challenge of obtaining hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to get his name placed on all 50 state ballots prior to November.

注释：
furious [5fjuEriEs] adj. 激烈的
imperative [im5perEtiv] n. 责任，义务
besiege⁷ [bi5si:dVd] v. 困扰
restore [ris5tC:] vt. 恢复
sovereignty [5sCvrinti] n. 主权国家
explicit [iks5plisit] adj. 明析的，明确的,
preamble [pri:5Ambl] n. 前言，序
mount [5maunt] v. 发动准备
CBS abbr. Columbia Broadcasting System [美国] 哥伦比亚广播公司
lash¹⁴ [lAF] v. 攻击
confrontation [7kCnfrQn5teiFEn] n. 对抗
nourish [5nQriF] v. 保持
ballot¹⁸ [5bAlEt] n. 投票权，选举权

1 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。

2 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》

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

7 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

8 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

9 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

10 preamble   

n.前言；序文

参考例句：

• He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
• The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。

11 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

12 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。

13 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。

14 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

15 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

17 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

18 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

19 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。