VOA标准英语2008年-Democrats Attempt to Predict How Obama-Clinton

By Jim Malone
Washington
12 May 2008

Democratic Party presidential contender Hillary Clinton shows no signs of abandoning her bid for the White House, even though most political experts believe rival Barack Obama is now clearly on track to become the party's presidential nominee¹.  Exactly how the long and bitter Democratic presidential battle is resolved is an issue of concern for many Democrats², as we hear from VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone in Washington.

As she campaigns in the final three weeks of primaries Hillary Clinton has made it clear she is not giving up, despite Barack Obama's lead in the all important delegate count.

"I guess my favorite message was from a woman named Angela," Clinton said.  "Keep strong, she said, it is not over until the lady in the pantsuit says it is."

Clinton believes strong showings in several of the six remaining primaries will keep her in contention³, even though more Democratic superdelegates are announcing their support for Obama than Clinton.

Superdelegates are Democratic officeholders and party activists⁴ free to support either of the contenders at the national nominating convention in Denver in late August.

Obama has been careful not to try to force Clinton from the race, as in this interview with NBC television.

"I want to respect her and her desire to continue in these coming contests," Obama said, "and as soon as I know that I am the nominee, then I am going to start making overtures⁵, certainly to her as well as everybody else to figure out how we are going to bring this party together."

Even if Clinton does well in some of the remaining primaries, political experts believe it is only a matter of time before Obama secures the nomination⁶.

Norman Ornstein is a political scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"I think the most likely outcome here is that Senator Clinton will stay in this race through the final primaries and caucuses⁷, it ends on June the third," Ornstein said.  "And probably on June the fourth it is formally over.  It is possible it could end earlier than that, but more than likely there will be a kind of tacit understanding that we will go on until the final contest.  That still gives them almost two months (before the convention) to heal the wounds."

Some prominent Democrats worry that Clinton's decision to fight to the end could hurt Obama, especially if she repeats some of the sharp rhetoric⁸ as she campaigns in the remaining contests.

Former senator and Democratic presidential contender John Edwards spoke⁹ on the CBS program Face the Nation. 

"She has to be careful about going forward and as she makes the case for herself, which she is completely entitled to do, she has to be really careful that she is not damaging our prospects¹⁰, for the Democratic Party and our cause, for the fall (campaign)," Edwards said.

That view is shared by political commentator¹¹ Morton Kondracke, the executive editor of Roll Call, a newspaper that covers the U.S. Congress.

"I think that Hillary Clinton has to be more careful about what she says if she wants to unite the party and not be seen as a divisive influence," Krondracke said.  "The precedent¹² for this is Mike Huckabee's behavior in the Republican primaries where he basically campaigned with positive messages about himself, but never attacked John McCain.  That would be a good thing for her to do.  I think there is a school of thought in her campaign that she could still win this and that fighting to the last ditch would be advisable.  I think wiser heads will prevail and realize she cannot do it."

It is possible Clinton could abandon her campaign before the primaries end on June 3rd if she concludes there is no possibility of winning the nomination.

Most analysts¹³ expect the final act in the long-running Democratic nomination drama to come in June when the remaining uncommitted superdelegates will likely throw their support behind Obama.

Bill Beaman is editor of Politics magazine, formerly¹⁴ known as Campaigns and Elections.

"She certainly has the right to stay in the race," Beaman said.  "She has won enough places.  So I think that what will happen is in June the party elders, so to speak, will force the issue.  Superdelegates will get the clear message that OK, enough is enough, this fighting is handing John McCain and the Republican Party a huge gift."

Obama has already shifted his sights away from Clinton to the presumptive Republican Party nominee, Senator John McCain.  The McCain campaign has generally focused on Senator Obama in recent weeks and has largely ignored Senator Clinton.

1 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。

2 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》

3 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

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 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 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

8 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

9 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。

10 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。

11 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

12 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。