2007年VOA标准英语-Obama Nearly Matches Clinton In Presidential Fu

By Jim Malone
Washington
04 April 2007

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says his campaign has raised $25 million in the first three months of this year, nearly matching the $26 million raised by Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. As VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington, Obama's strong showing in campaign fundraising suggests a very competitive race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹ next year.

Barack Obama, (l)  talks to voters during a campaign stop in Rochester, New Hampshire, 03 Apr 2007

The Obama campaign said the $25 million in donations came from more than 100,000 people during the past three months, including nearly $7 million raised over the Internet.

The fundraising figure was released as Senator Obama brought his campaign to the early contest state of Iowa.

"We have by far the most donors² of any campaign, so the overwhelming number of our donations oftentimes come in small increments³ of 25 and 50 dollars," said Barack Obama.

Senator Obama nearly matched the $26 million raised by Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, which was announced earlier this week. Clinton continues to lead public-opinion polls among Democratic candidates and has been seen as the frontrunner for the party's presidential nomination.

Obama has been running second in the polls behind Senator Clinton. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who has been running in third place, raised $14 million in the first quarter of this year. Edwards recently announced that his wife, Elizabeth, is battling a recurrence⁴ of cancer.

Obama has only been in the Senate for two years and is a relative newcomer on the national stage, but he has drawn⁵ large and enthusiastic crowds since he began his campaign in February.

Political experts say the surprisingly large fundraising total for Obama will boost his campaign and could raise doubts among some Democrats⁶ that Hillary Clinton has a lock as the party nominee⁷ next year.

On the Republican side, the big fundraiser was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁸ Romney, who raised $23 million. Romney is running a distant third in most polls behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain.

Giuliani has raised nearly $15 million this year and McCain raised $12.5 million.

Romney told NBC's Today program that his surprisingly large fundraising total should boost his campaign.

"In the states where I spend a lot of time like Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, people know me, they are warming to my message," said Mitt Romney. "And I am very heartened by the fact that I have received extraordinary contributions from all over the country, so it is a message that is connecting. People want to see change in Washington."

Former Republican Party strategist Matthew Dowd says political rivals and experts closely watch the amount of money the candidates are able to raise.

"If you do not exceed expectations, if you go below expectations, it is a huge problem," said Matthew Dowd. "If you exceed expectations, it is a good day."

Never before has so much campaign money been raised so early in a presidential-election cycle.

Many states are holding their caucus⁹ and primary elections earlier in 2008, forcing candidates to spend money sooner on advertising¹⁰ and campaign staff.

"And this has resulted in the nominees¹¹ having to face a much more compressed and a much more early primary election season, requiring them to raise money at a much faster rate," said Ross Baker¹² Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey¹³.

Baker says the competition among the presidential contenders to raise money has become the first important test of the 2008 campaign.

"And now, in fact, the effort to raise money has become a kind of primary election in itself, in which the quarterly reports that campaigns give become a kind of financial referendum on how strong the campaigns are," he said.

By law, private citizens are limited to donations of $2,300 to a candidate for the primary elections and another $2,300 for the general presidential election.

The major candidates are raising so much money for 2008 that this may be the first presidential election that the major candidates turn down public matching funds to finance their campaigns.

Presidential candidates have taken advantage of the matching funds in every election since 1976, part of a 1974 campaign reform law designed to limit campaign spending and the influence of wealthy special interest donors in U.S. presidential elections.

1 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。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 increments   

n.增长( increment的名词复数 )；增量；增额；定期的加薪

参考例句：

• These increments were mixed and looked into the 5.56mm catridge case. 将各种药粒进行混和，装在5．56毫米的弹壳中。 来自辞典例句
• The Rankine scale has scale increments equal to the FahrenheIt'scale. 兰氏温标的温度间距与华氏温标的相同。 来自辞典例句

4 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 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》

7 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。

8 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

9 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

13 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。