VOA标准英语2008年-Obama And Clinton Campaign in Key Primaries in

By Jim Malone
Washington
05 May 2008

Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are making a final push for support on the eve of Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has the latest on the U.S. presidential campaign from Washington.

Both candidates have a lot at stake in Tuesday's primaries.

Senator Clinton hopes to keep alive her underdog hopes of winning the Democratic nomination¹ by extending her momentum² after convincing victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Obama seeks to recapture some momentum of his own after weeks of being on the defensive³ over his relationship with his former pastor⁴, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Clinton told a crowd in North Carolina that her political experience gives her an advantage over Obama on the issue of which candidate is best prepared to assume the presidency⁵ on day one.

"You know, the world is going to breathe a sigh of relief when that moving van pulls out from behind the White House and is heading back to Texas," she said. "But then, I want you to think about what the next president will be confronting."

"Two wars, a war to end in Iraq, and bring our troops home and a war to win in Afghanistan and go after those who attacked our country. An economy in crisis with gas prices exploding," she continued.

Obama told television interviewers he remains⁶ confident that he will emerge as the Democratic Party nominee⁷ for president, once the primary and caucus⁸ voting ends on June 3.

Obama holds a narrow, but difficult to overcome lead in the delegate count and has tried to refocus his campaign on economic issues in recent days and away from the controversy⁹ involving Reverend Wright.

Obama spoke¹⁰ on MSNBC television.

"You know, everybody goes through their turns of getting whacked¹¹ around a little bit in the press, and certainly we have had our turns lately," he said. "But what I have seen is that the American people are looking for somebody who is really going to fight for them, who can make sure they can live out their hopes and their dreams."

New public-opinion polls give a mixed picture of the impact of the Wright controversy on the Obama campaign.

The USA Today Gallup Poll showed the Wright issue has helped Clinton move to a lead over Obama among Democrats¹² nationwide by a margin¹³ of 51 to 44 percent.

But a new CBS News New York Times Poll suggested Obama was having some success in moving past the Wright controversy. Sixty percent of people surveyed in that poll approved of Obama's handling of the issue.

Meanwhile, the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, is vowing¹⁴ that he will not make Obama's ties with Reverend Wright an issue in the general election campaign if Obama is the Democratic nominee.

McCain spoke at a news conference in Arizona.

"Senator Obama has said that it is a legitimate¹⁵ political issue in his campaign," he said. "He will respond to that, not me. Do I believe that Reverend Wright's comments were outrageous¹⁶? Of course, so do all Americans. But it will be a discussion that Senator Obama will have with the American people."

McCain has the luxury of focusing on uniting his party and raising money while the Democratic race continues indefinitely.

Some political experts believe that many of the prominent Democrats who remain uncommitted in the Obama-Clinton battle will rally to Obama once the primaries end in early June.

Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says many of the so-called congressional superdelegates believe Senator Obama would be more helpful to their own re-election prospects¹⁷ in the November election than Hillary Clinton.

DeFrank appeared on VOA's Issues in the News program.

"There is a feeling that Obama has generated such enthusiasm, and so many new voters have registered as Democrats that many members of Congress running for re-election feel like Obama probably is a safer bet at the top of the ticket than Hillary," he said.

Recent polls give Clinton a slight edge in Indiana, while Obama remains favored in North Carolina.

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 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。

3 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

4 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

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 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。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

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 whacked   

a.精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• She whacked him with her handbag. 她用手提包狠狠地打他。
• He whacked me on the back and I held both his arms. 他用力拍拍我的背，我抱住他的双臂。

12 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》

13 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。

14 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

16 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

17 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。