VOA标准英语2008年-US Presidential Candidates Debate Economy, Fore

The two major party candidates for president of the United States, Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat¹ Senator Barack Obama met in a spirited debate over the financial crisis and foreign policy Friday at the University of Mississippi. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from the debate site in Oxford², Mississippi, the two candidates clashed frequently over such issues as tax cuts, Iran's nuclear ambitions and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
　
John McCain, left, and Barack Obama shake hands after first presidential debate (26 Sep 08)

Although this was to have been a debate focused exclusively on foreign policy issues, the grave financial crisis that almost undermined the debate was the top issue addressed during the first half of the debate. Both Senators came to Mississippi from Washington, where they had been involved in the effort to put together an emergency package to stem the crisis.

On Wednesday, Senator McCain suspended his campaign and called for a postponement³ of the debate in order to concentrate on the financial crisis. Senator Obama said he would come to the debate alone, if necessary, and for two days the fate of this first presidential debate of the 2008 election was uncertain. On Friday, however, just hours before the event was to take place, Senator McCain said enough progress had been made in Washington for him to come to the debate.

In their responses to questions about the crisis, the two senators gave support to the general idea of a government bail⁴ out plan, but differed over what needed to be done to restore the nation's economic health. Senator McCain said government needs to restore fiscal⁵ responsibility.

"We have to, obviously, cut spending. I have fought to cut spending. Senator Obama has 800 billion dollars in new spending programs. I would suggest that he start by canceling some of those new spending programs that he has," he said.

Senator Obama fired back, accusing Senator McCain and Republicans of approving tax cuts for the wealthy while neglecting the needs of average working Americans.

"If we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who do not need them and we're not even asking for them and we are leaving out health care, which is crushing on people all across the country then, I think, we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we are not short-changing our long-term priorities," he said.
　
John McCain at first presidential debate (26 Septmeber 08)

When the debate moved to foreign policy, the exchange became more heated, with Senator McCain frequently suggesting that Senator Obama did not fully⁶ understand such issues as the threat of a nuclear Iran or how to deal with Russia. Senator Obama fought back with criticisms of the Bush administration's policies, which he said Senator McCain has largely supported. Senator McCain hailed the success of the military surge in Iraq and Senator Obama attacked the decision to invade Iraq in the first place.

One of the fiercest exchanges between the two candidates came over the issue of Iran and what to do about its plan to develop nuclear weapons. Senator McCain emphasized the threat this would pose to Israel and attacked Senator Obama for saying he would hold direct meetings with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"What Senator Obama does not seem to understand is that if, without precondition, you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking⁷ corpse⁸ and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. This is dangerous. It is not just naive⁹, it is dangerous," he said.
　
Barack Obama at presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi (26 Septmeber 08)

Senator Obama responded by defending his willingness to meet with any foreign leader at any time if he believed it would make the United States more secure.

"Now, understand what this means, meeting without preconditions. It does not mean that you invite them over for tea one day. What it means is that we do not do what we have been doing, which is to say that 'until you agree to do exactly what we say, we will not have direct contacts with you," he said.

Senator Obama said one of McCain's own advisors¹⁰, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, had endorsed¹¹ the idea of meeting with Iran's leaders without preconditions. Senator McCain said that was not true. In a recent meeting with other former secretaries of state, Kissinger did say U.S. officials should meet with the Iranians without preconditions, but he did not say the two presidents should meet.

The next scheduled debate will be between the two vice¹² presidential candidates, Republican Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska and Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. That event is scheduled for October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

1 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。

2 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

3 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

8 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

9 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

10 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

11 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。