VOA标准英语2008年-McCain Wins South Carolina Republican Primary

By Brian Wagner
Columbia, South Carolina
20 January 2008

Arizona Senator John McCain has won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina. In Columbia, VOA's Brian Wagner reports McCain won 33 percent support, over 30 percent for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

The victory gives Senator McCain a boost as he battles for the lead in the Republican presidential race with Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt¹ Romney.

Exit polling showed that McCain drew strong support in Saturday's vote from moderate Republicans and voters who described themselves as independents.

In a series of campaign stops across the state, McCain emphasized his military experience, and his proposals for government spending cuts and national security improvements.

During a victory speech, McCain thanked supporters for showing confidence in his leadership and his policies.

"We can overcome any challenges as long as we keep our courage, stand by our defense² of the free markets, low taxes and small government that have made the United States the greatest land of opportunity in the world," he said.

The outcome was a vindication³ for John McCain who lost the state primary to President Bush in 2000, following a negative advertising⁴ campaign against the Arizona senator.

In his speech, McCain also recalled that since 1980, no Republican has gone on to win the White House without winning the state's primary.

Exit polls showed that support for Mike Huckabee was strong among evangelical Christian⁵ voters in South Carolina.

In a concession⁶ speech, Huckabee thanked his campaign staff and supporters, saying he will move on in upcoming primaries to seek the party's nomination⁷.

"This is not an event, it is a process. And the process is far, far from over," he said.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson finished in third place in South Carolina, narrowly ahead of Mitt Romney.

Romney campaigned briefly⁸ in South Carolina earlier this week before moving on to Nevada, where we won the caucus⁹ there Saturday by a large margin¹⁰. Shortly after giving a victory speech in Nevada, Romney traveled to a rally in Florida, which holds Republican and Democratic primaries on Tuesday, January 29.

The attention returns to South Carolina next Saturday for the Democratic presidential primary.

1 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。

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 vindication   

n.洗冤，证实

参考例句：

• There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
• The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。

4 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。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

7 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。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

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 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。