Bush, Kerry Campaign Strategies Emerging

 

Jim Malone

The U.S. presidential election is eight months away, but the strategies for the two major candidates are already emerging.
For the presumptive Democratic Party nominee¹, Senator John Kerry, the challenge will be to raise questions about President Bush's leadership over the past four years, and offer a compelling reason for change.
"Our campaign is about replacing doubt with hope and replacing fear with security," he announced.
President Bush, on the other hand, will highlight his leadership in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and he will target John Kerry's liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate.
"It is a choice between an America that leads the world with strength and confidence, or an America that is uncertain in the face of danger," said Mr. Bush.
The economy, jobs, health care, national security and foreign policy all figure as central issues in the 2004 campaign. And both President Bush and Senator Kerry have themes and issues they would prefer to focus on, issues they believe will help them, and hurt their opponent.
Stuart Rothenberg publishes an independent political newsletter in Washington D.C. "Right now, I think it is clear that Republicans want the issue to be about foreign policy, national security, defense² and presidential leadership. The Democrats³ are more focused on things like jobs, domestic priorities, but also talking about the war [Iraq] and presidential leadership."
Stuart Rothenberg and many other political analysts⁴ look for a close election in 2004, similar perhaps to the tight contest four years ago, when Mr. Bush narrowly defeated then-Vice President Al Gore⁵.
Georgetown University political expert Stephen Wayne says the first priority for both candidates is making sure their core supporters turn out and vote in November.
"The election will hinge on two factors," he said. "One, how each side turns out its base of supporters, in other words, how they bring them out to vote. In general, Republicans have had a larger percentage of their people turn out to vote than the Democrats, so the Democrats are going to have to make a big effort here.
"And secondly⁶, there are about 10 percent of the population who are truly independent, who have not made a decision," added Mr. Wayne. "And both candidates will appeal to that 10 percent of the voters."
It is also likely that the outcome of the election will hinge on the results in a relatively⁷ small number of so-called swing states, states that are nearly evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
It is worth noting that U.S. presidential elections are not decided⁸ by the popular vote nationwide. Each state has a certain number of Electoral College votes, based on its population. The candidate who wins the popular vote in a given state wins all of that state's electoral votes. Two-hundred-seventy electoral votes are required to win the White House.
In the 2000 election, there were a total of 16 states that President Bush either won or lost by five percentage points or less.
Georgetown University Professor Stephen Wayne says these so-called battleground states are likely to be the focus of attention for both candidates this year, as well.
"As we look at it today, the key states are the ones in the Midwest and in the Mid-Atlantic, beginning with Pennsylvania and going to Ohio and Illinois and Minnesota and then Wisconsin and Iowa," said Professor Wayne. "The state of Florida in the south and the Pacific Coast states - Washington, Oregon and even [traditionally Democratic] California - now that California has a Republican governor who seems to be reasonably popular."
It is expected that both the president and Senator Kerry will be making numerous visits to these key states in the months ahead. In fact, the new television advertisements being run by the president's re-election committee target most of the states that are expected to be close in November.

注释：
presumptive [pri5zQmptiv] adj. 推测的
compelling [kEm5peliN] adj. 非常有说服力的
highlight [5hailait] n. 最显著（重要）部分
aftermath [5B:ftEmAW] n.（不幸事件的）后果
theme [Wi:m] n. 主题
newsletter [5njU:z7letE(r)] n. 时事通讯
hinge [hindV] n. 关键
nationwide [5neiFEnwaid] adj. 全国性的
Pennsylvania [pensil5veinjE] n.（美国州名）宾夕法尼亚州
Ohio [Eu5haiEu] n.（美国州名）俄亥俄州
Illinois [7ili5nCi(z)] n.（美国州名）伊利诺斯州
Minnesota [7mini5sEutE] n.（美国州名）明尼苏达州
Wisconsin [wis5kCnsin] n.（美国州名）威斯康星州
Iowa [5aiEwE] n.（美国中西部的一州）爱荷华州
Oregon [5Cri^En] n.（美国州名）俄勒冈州

 

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 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》

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 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。

6 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。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 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。