2007年VOA标准英语-US Political Parties Caution States on Holding

By Jim Malone
Washington
30 August 2007

The competition among U.S. states to hold their presidential primary contests early in 2008 is causing some major problems for the two major national parties that are trying to control the nominating process.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee hold hearing in Washington, 25 Aug 2007

The latest challenges come from Republicans in Wyoming and Democrats¹ in Florida.  In both cases, local party officials are trying to move up the date of their presidential primaries to January of next year, much to the dismay of national party leaders.

The national Democratic and Republican parties are trying to control the process to ensure that Iowa and New Hampshire continue in their traditional role of being the first in the presidential nominating process early in 2008.

In the case of Florida, the national Democratic Party is threatening to not seat Florida's delegates to the Democratic National Convention next August, depriving Florida Democrats of a role in the selection of the party's presidential nominee².

National party officials want Florida to reverse its decision to shift its primary next year from February 5 to January 29.

"I am going to send a message to everybody in Florida that we are going to follow the rules," said Donna Brazile, who chairs the Voting Rights Institute for the Democratic National Committee.

The two sides have 30 days to try and work out a compromise before the penalty would take effect.

Republican National Committee officials are also warning states that any attempt to move up their primaries into early January could result in sanctions.  Wyoming Republicans now want to begin their delegate selection process on January 5.

Political experts say both parties need to be careful not to alienate³ voters in the states involved, especially in large states like Florida that will be closely contested in the general election.

Experts also say the competition among the states is fierce, because many states want to have an early voice in the process that selects the party nominees⁴ through a series of primaries and voter caucuses⁶.

"This is an insane schedule.  It makes absolutely no sense," said Larry Sabato, who directs the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.  "It is not in the national interest.  We have 50 entities⁷, 50 states that are leapfrogging one another, trying to gain advantage.  They are trying to get as early as possible so that they can help to determine the nominees of both parties."

John Fortier, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, says the rush for an earlier primary schedule in 2008 is part of a long-term trend in U.S. politics.

"The primaries have been moving earlier and earlier over the past 30 years," he explained.  "Essentially⁸, each state and each state's party can decide when to have their primaries, and it is very hard for the national parties to discipline them.  It is a war between the states, essentially, where there is no way to discipline them and they keep pushing the primaries earlier and earlier."

Some of the presidential contenders, particularly those who are lagging behind in the polls and in fundraising, worry that the surge of large states to the beginning of the primary process will hurt their chances to win their party's nomination⁹.

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, who is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, spoke¹⁰ to CBS television.

"It means that this nomination goes to the highest bidder¹¹, whoever has the most money to engage in wholesale¹² politics of going up on television in the big states, and it would be a shame if that happens," he said.

Despite the competition among the states to move up their primary and caucus⁵ dates, experts question whether the quicker start will compel Americans to pay attention to the presidential campaign any earlier.

Stuart Rothenberg publishes an independent political newsletter in Washington and was a guest on VOA's Encounter program.

"We have started very early," he noted¹³.  "I personally do not think that people are making hard and fast decisions yet about whom they are going to support.  I think they continue to look at all the candidates, evaluate them, have opinions one way or the other, but that is very different from deciding very firmly who to support."

Iowa and New Hampshire were scheduled to initiate¹⁴ the nomination process in mid-January, but jockeying by other states has created uncertainty¹⁵ about when exactly the presidential selection process will begin.

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 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。

3 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

4 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

5 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。

6 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 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。

10 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。

11 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

12 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

15 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。