VOA常速英语2008年-US Presidential Contenders Focus on Mid-Atlanti

By Jim Malone
Washington
12 February 2008

A heavy voter turnout is expected Tuesday in the next phase of the U.S. presidential election campaign. Nominating primaries are being held in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has a report.

Lengthy¹ lines were reported at several polling stations and interest was running high in the Democratic presidential nomination² race between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Two voters in Virginia, who cast ballots³ in the Democratic primary, expressed their opinions on the race.

"I voted for Hillary Clinton. I really don't like Obama. I think he is really naïve on foreign policy," said one man.

"Obama. He is the better candidate," said another voter.

Obama was looking to build momentum⁴ after a series of recent victories as he rallied supporters at the University of Maryland on the eve of the primaries.

"We cannot wait to stop global warming," he said. "We cannot wait to bring this war in Iraq to a close. We cannot wait to fix this country."

Public opinion polls give Obama the edge in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, thanks in part to strong support from African-American voters.

Clinton also campaigned in Maryland and promised to battle Obama for votes in all three races. But Clinton made clear that she is looking ahead to the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, states where she has a lead.

 

"I am absolutely looking to Ohio and Texas because we know that those are states that represent the broad electorate⁵ in this country," she said. "They represent the kind of voters that are going to have to be convinced and won over in the general election."

Clinton and Obama are roughly tied in the delegate count. The Associated Press estimates both candidates have more than 1,000 delegates each. It takes 2,025 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

In the Republican presidential race, Senator John McCain of Arizona is looking to solidify⁶ his hold on his party's nomination with victories in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

McCain has a huge lead in the delegate count over his main remaining challenger, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee beat McCain in two of three Republican contests over the weekend and hopes to surprise McCain in Virginia with the support of conservative Christian⁷ voters.

Huckabee so far has ignored calls from McCain supporters to quit the race and unite the party.

"To say that it is bad for the party for us to have a debate, that it is bad for the party for us to have an election? My gosh, I really would like to think that it is good for the party for us to talk about it," he said.

McCain says he is focused on winning enough delegates to secure the nomination and bring the party together.

"I respect Governor Huckabee and have always admired his principles and campaign. I have said that we have a lot of work to do to unite the party," he said.

After the mid-Atlantic primaries, the focus will turn to Wisconsin next Tuesday where both parties hold a primary, and Hawaii, which will hold a Democratic caucus⁸.

1 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

2 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。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

5 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

6 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

7 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。

8 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。