VOA标准英语2013--Obama Hopes Charm Offensive Will Lead to Grand Bargain

 

Obama Hopes Charm Offensive Will Lead to Grand Bargain

If you've come to Washington for a tour of the White House, you're out of luck.

Because President Obama and Republicans in Congress could not agree on legislation to prevent automatic government spending cuts, White House tours are canceled for now, and many other government operations are on hold.

So Obama is trying a new approach, which the media are calling a "charm offensive."

He has made several trips to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and has even treated a group of Senate Republicans to dinner.

“Over the last several weeks, the press here in Washington has been reporting about ‘Obama’s charm offensive.’ ... [I'm] trying to see if we can break through some of the [nonsense] of our politics here," he said.

So far, the response from Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, has been cautiously positive. “Listen, I’m glad President Obama reached out yesterday and visited with our House Republican conference. And I think we had an honest discussion. But this is going to take more than dinner dates and phone calls," he said.

Former legislative¹ adviser² Steve Bell, now at Washington's Bipartisan Policy Council, thinks the president's shift in tactics is a good move. “Really, the effectiveness of the tactics of attacking Republicans and, I won’t use the word demeaning, but, you know, really being quite harsh on Republicans, was backfiring," he said.

President Obama's approval ratings in public opinion polls have slipped lately, and Bell says he now understands that he must work with Congress. "With his poll data going down a little bit, he’s intelligently changed his tactics, and it might bear some fruit," he said.

The president told backers that he wants to help Republican lawmakers overcome pressure from their party to avoid compromising with him. “Because I think a lot of them feel as if they don't have the opportunity to break out of some of this partisan³ gridlock," he said.

While many in Washington are pessimistic about the chances for a deal in the coming months, Steve Bell predicts the Democratic-led Senate may reach agreements on a number of issues, which he says would prod⁴ House Republicans to do the same.

"And it will then become incumbent⁵ on the House, led by Republicans by a relatively⁶ narrow margin⁷ but still led by Republicans, to say yes or no on immigration, yes or no on some sort of rational gun changes, yes or no on the grand bargain," he said.

And if that happens, the White House doors will open again. 

1 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 prod   

vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励

参考例句：

• The crisis will prod them to act.那个危机将刺激他们行动。
• I shall have to prod him to pay me what he owes.我将不得不催促他把欠我的钱还给我。

5 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 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。