美国国家公共电台 NPR--Concerns arise over the DNC's new primary calendar

Concerns arise over the DNC's new primary calendar

Transcript¹

After input² from President Joe Biden, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws commitee greenlit a new primary calendar, led by South Carolina. But both states and individual party members are raising concerns.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For generations, Iowa and New Hampshire have gone first in picking presidential nominees³, but Democrats⁴ want to upend that tradition.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Biden and the Democratic National Committee put forward a new calendar the other day in which South Carolina would go first, which is, of course, raising a lot of questions.

MARTIN: To answer some of them. We've got NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro with us. Hey, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE⁵: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: Before getting to the consequences of this change, remind us what the White House and the DNC are proposing.

MONTANARO: Well, they want to kick Iowa out of the first states, demote New Hampshire and elevate South Carolina and a few others. South Carolina would go first on February 3, 2024. Three days later, Nevada and New Hampshire, then Georgia a week later, and Michigan two weeks after that.

MARTIN: Why?

MONTANARO: Well, the Iowa Democratic Party, frankly⁶, botched their vote reporting in 2020. But I have to say, that's just sort of the last crack in the dam. You know, this was a long time coming. Iowa has started to move more solidly into Republicans' column in presidential elections. And more importantly, it really doesn't reflect the growing demographic diversity of the Democratic Party. And that's a point that was emphasized by Donna Brazile, the long-time party activist⁷ and member of the committee that pushed this through. Here's what she told me.

DONNA BRAZILE: It's like going to a dinner party, and everyone has been served an appetizer⁸ and had the full menu. And when it comes time to dessert, we say, well, we're out of food. That's not the way we should do it in the Democratic Party.

MONTANARO: She also said that Democrats are looking at potentially reassessing the calendar now every four years.

MARTIN: So there are going to be people who don't like this plan. South Carolina clearly jumps out as a state that helped propel Joe Biden to the nomination⁹. It's not exactly a swing state.

MONTANARO: Yeah, and there are people who are saying exactly that. You know, that's a point that Faiz Shakir, who was Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign manager and who is a voting DNC delegate - he says that he won't be voting for this proposal because he sees South Carolina as too culturally conservative, that it's not going to go blue anytime soon and that it strikes him as something else.

FAIZ SHAKIR: I think that President Biden made a decision that smacks¹⁰ of political favoritism. I can respect and appreciate that the president feels fondness toward South Carolina. Those are all appropriate feelings. However, none of those feelings are strategically the reason why South Carolina should go first.

MONTANARO: You know, lots of others who do support this plan point out that South Carolina in a primary is made up of 60% Black voters. And Black voters, of course, are a key demographic group for Democrats. Shakir says that his point, though, is strictly¹¹ about competitiveness and that there are sizable Black populations in swing states like Georgia and Michigan. Beyond demographics, though, others have really warned against having too many big states frontloaded in the calendar because it could eliminate retail¹² politics - you know, when voters get to test candidates up close. And that's the very thing that Iowa and New Hampshire were so good at.

MARTIN: So critics are making their voices heard because this is not a done deal, right?

MONTANARO: Yeah, it's definitely not. States have until January 5 to go back to the DNC with a plan that shows that they'd actually be able to do this. Already, Georgia looks like it might not be able to because the secretary of state's office runs elections and is insisting on having both parties' primaries on the same day. And Republicans already voted on their calendar, and Georgia's not in the top several states. New Hampshire, which has held the first primary for more than a hundred years, is going to fight this tooth and nail and very well may go first anyway, despite some promised penalties, including candidates who campaign there could be kept off debate stages. One thing, though, that's probably for sure, Iowa is probably out. No more talk of butter cows, at least for a while with the Democrats.

MARTIN: NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, thanks.

MONTANARO: Hey, you're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 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》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 appetizer   

n.小吃，开胃品

参考例句：

• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetizer.我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。
• I would like a cucumber salad for an appetizer.我要一份黄瓜沙拉作开胃菜。

9 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。

10 smacks   

掌掴（声）( smack的名词复数 )； 海洛因； （打的）一拳； 打巴掌

参考例句：

• His politeness smacks of condescension. 他的客气带有屈尊俯就的意味。
• It was a fishing town, and the sea was dotted with smacks. 这是个渔业城镇，海面上可看到渔帆点点。

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。