VOA常速英语2008年-McCain Seeks to Mend Rift With Republican Conse

By Jim Malone
Washington
08 February 2008

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt¹ Romney's decision to abandon his presidential campaign makes it a virtual certainty that Arizona Senator John McCain will be the Republican Party's presidential nominee² this year. But as VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports, McCain still has some serious work to do to unify³ the party behind his candidacy.

McCain's challenge played out before an annual conference of conservative activists⁴ in Washington.

Conservatives have long clashed with McCain over his initial opposition⁵ to President Bush's tax cut program and his support for measures that would establish a path to citizenship⁶ for illegal immigrants.

With those past differences in mind, conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham raised doubts about McCain in a speech to the Conservative Political Action conference.

"I do not think it is enough to say that you were a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution," said Ingraham. "I think the question is, what have you been doing for conservatism lately?"

Later McCain was greeted by the same group with a mixture of jeers⁷ and cheers. He expressed the hope that the Republican Party will unite behind him as the presidential nominee in time for the November election.

"Many of you have disagreed strongly with some positions I have taken in recent years. I understand that," he said. "All I ask of any American conservative, moderate, independent or enlightened Democrat⁸ is to judge my record as a whole and accept that I am not in the habit of making promises to my country that I do not intend to keep."

President Bush also addressed the conservative conference. Although Mr. Bush did not endorse⁹ McCain, he did urge conservatives to unite behind the eventual¹⁰ Republican nominee.

"This is an important election," he said. "Prosperity and peace are in the balance. Let us go forward, fight for victory and keep the White House in 2008. God bless you, and God bless America."

Even as McCain moves closer to securing the Republican nomination¹¹, many experts believe that the voices of discontent on the right are unlikely to quiet down anytime soon.

Political expert Stuart Rothenberg says that makes for a strange dynamic between the apparent nominee in waiting and an important constituency within the Republican Party.

"When you watch this a long time, you think that the [Republican] base really dictates¹² who the nominee is going to be. But here we have this strange situation where Republicans, conservatives, supporters of George W. Bush, are not enthusiastic about John McCain," he said.

Rothenberg was a guest on VOA's Talk to America web chat, as was political science Professor Bruce Miroff of the State University of New York at Albany.

"Conservatives expect their politicians to be in touch with orthodoxy, and McCain is just too much of a heretic for many conservatives on some key issues," said Miroff.

Miroff says many conservatives will never forgive McCain for initially¹³ voting against the Bush tax cuts and for his moderate stance on immigration.

McCain also has a history of clashes with religious conservatives, though he has tried resolve those differences in recent years.

McCain argues that his record should appeal to both social and economic conservatives because of his long-standing opposition to abortion¹⁴ and his focus on cutting wasteful¹⁵ government spending.

Analyst¹⁶ Rothenberg says many conservatives see a stark¹⁷ contrast between President Bush and Senator McCain.

"The groups that he leaves out are the strong conservatives, the religious conservatives, really the Bush supporters. So, in a sense, McCain continues to be what he was eight years ago. He was the alternative to George W. Bush," he said.

McCain lost out to Mr. Bush in a bitter presidential primary race in the year 2000. The two men later reconciled and McCain has become one of the president's most loyal supporters in pushing for a military victory in Iraq.

Many conservatives also dislike McCain because he has a reputation as a maverick¹⁸ Republican who has been willing to work with liberal Democrats¹⁹ on issues such as climate change and campaign finance reform.

Expert Bruce Miroff says McCain's challenge in the coming weeks is to mend fences with his conservative critics without alienating²⁰ his base of support with moderate and independent voters who have admired his maverick tendencies in the past.

"His problem is that to conciliate the conservatives who now view him with mistrust, he has to sound more conservative, and that clashes with the moderate and independent image, which is his strongest calling card with voters beyond the Republican base," said Miroff.

Recent polls suggest a presidential race between Republican McCain and either of the two Democratic contenders would be competitive. Surveys show McCain either tied or slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, but trailing Barack Obama by a few points.

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 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 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

7 jeers   

n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They shouted jeers at him. 他们大声地嘲讽他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The jeers from the crowd caused the speaker to leave the platform. 群众的哄笑使讲演者离开讲台。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 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。

12 dictates   

n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

15 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

16 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。

17 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

18 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

19 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》

20 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网