Obama, Romney Prepare For Debate Rematch

 HITE HOUSE — Both President Barack Obama and his opponent, Mitt¹ Romney, are preparing for the second of the three debates they will have before the November 6 election. The president needs a strong performance in the next debate to slow Romney’s surge in the polls.

The second presidential debate is set for Tuesday, October 16, three weeks before the election, at Hofstra University near New York City.

Both candidates spent much of Saturday preparing for the forum², but their eyes were also on the state of Ohio, where many experts believe the election could be decided³.

President Obama devoted⁴ his weekly radio and Internet address to his 2009 decision to bail⁵ out the failing U.S. auto⁶ industry, which accounts for a large share of manufacturing jobs in Ohio. 

“But we refused to throw in the towel and do nothing.  We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt.  I bet on American workers and American ingenuity⁷, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way," he said.

The president reminded voters that America’s auto industry has largely recovered from its earlier problems.

“Today, auto sales are the highest they have been in more than four years.  GM is back.  Ford and Chrysler are growing again.  Together, our auto industry has created nearly a quarter of a million new jobs right here in America," he said.

The president’s wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, is also scheduled to campaign in Ohio on Monday.

Governor Romney has spent four days in Ohio in the past week.  On Saturday, he told a crowd at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth that the debates have given him a chance to question Obama on his policies.

“Like why it was, with 23 million Americans out of work, struggling to find a good job, that he spent his first two years fighting for Obamacare, which made it harder to get jobs," he said.

Romney said he is confident that he can win. “And the only answer he had a few weeks ago was this.  He said, ‘You know, you cannot change Washington from the inside.  You can only change it from the outside.’  We are going to give him that chance on November 6," he said.

Romney’s vice⁸ presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, was also in Ohio Saturday, speaking in Youngstown.  Many analysts⁹ believe Ryan performed well in Thursday’s debate with Vice President Joe Biden.

Before campaigning Saturday, Governor Romney spent four hours in a hotel in the state capital, Columbus, practicing for next Tuesday’s debate.  He was joined by his debate training partner, Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman, and several top advisers¹⁰.

Obama left Saturday for three days of debate preparation in the historic town of Williamsburg, Virginia.  He was also joined by top advisers, and by his training partner, Democratic Senator John Kerry.

Public opinion surveys indicate that most Americans believe Romney was the clear winner of the first debate, on October 11. Obama was criticized afterward¹¹ for appearing sluggish¹² and for not answering all of his opponent’s attacks.

Since then, Romney has erased¹³ much if not all of the president’s lead in the polls, both nationwide and in the swing states.

The second debate will have a town hall format¹⁴, in which audience members ask questions of both candidates.  Questions will concern both foreign and domestic policy.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• 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。

5 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。

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

8 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。

9 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。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser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：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

12 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

13 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。