NPR 2008-11-05

The first polls including some in the important battleground states such as Indiana are closing at this hour. Along with Indiana where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama did some last minute campaigning today, other states whose polls are closing at this hour include Virginia, Kentucky and New Hampshire. NPR's Julie Rovner is in the election headquarters.

(Jack : ) Julie, what can we hope to learn from some of these early vote numbers when they do start to come in?

(Julie : ) Well, some of these are pretty key states for how things might go tonight. Eh, Virginia in particular is a state that both candidates have been vying² for. It hasn't gone Democratic since 1964. Both candidates have spent a lot of time there. If Virginia goes for Senator Obama, that could be an indication of things to come. Indiana as you mentioned is a very red state of traditionally Republican. The fact that it seems to be very close there is also an indication that things could (go) be going very well for Senator Obama. New Hampshire on the other hand is a state that has gone Democratic. Recently that’s a state where Senator John McCain thinks he might be able to pick off what's been a state in Democratic camp. So those are a couple of states we'll be watching for.

(Jack : ) Now not too many numbers in yet or too many votes in yet in Indiana but that race looks very tight there. And I think the last time Indiana voted for a Democrat¹ for president was, what LBJ?

(Julie : ) Eh, I don't remember the last time Indiana has gone Democratic but I can say it's been a long time.

(Jack : ) Yeah, and it's a very tight race there, so, as you said this is a very important race for us to be keeping an eye on this evening.

(Julie : ) Yes. This is one of those times when some of these early states I think will give us an indication of how the night's gonna go.

(Jack : ) All right. Thank you very much. NPR's Julie Rovner in election headquarters.

 A top Democratic lawmaker says he believes the party will increase its majority in the House. Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen says he expects a 10-15 seat gain. That's a bit less than some have forecasted. But he does think it will be a big night for the Democrats³. He says it will depend on what happens in some key states like Indiana. Early exit polls meanwhile are scoring nation's mood and it is not pretty. As NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

Worried, that's the word that sums up the national mood as voters go to the polls in what could be record numbers. Six in ten voters say the economy is their most important issue. About half of those polls rated the economy as in poor condition and nearly all the rest said it's not good. At least four in ten said their families' financial situation has gotten worse in the last four years and half said they are worried the current crisis will make things still worse. Two thirds say they're worried about being unable to afford healthcare and at least as many say they're worried about another terrorist attack. About the only ray of sunshine was that nearly half said they think the nation's economy will get better over the next year. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 305 points to end the session at 9, 625. The NASDAQ gained 53 points today to close at 1, 780. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 39 points today.

This is NPR.

One of the states being watched closest this evening is Florida. With 27 electoral votes, it is the largest battleground state and polls make it too close to call there. From Miami, NPR's Greg Allen has that story.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama campaigned in Florida yesterday, trying to nail down supporters with last minute appeals. This is the state that gave John McCain a lock on the Republican nomination⁴ earlier this year and when in the weeks after the Republican Convention he enjoyed a lead in the polls. The worsening economy and Obama's well-funded campaign wheedled⁵ away that lead and now most polls make it a statistical⁶ dead heat. McCain's counting on support from Republican strongholds in North Florida from older voters and Cuban Americans. Obama hopes to draw a large numbers in South Florida among younger voters and with non-Cuban Hispanics. Democrats have registered twice as many new voters this year as Republicans and hold a 650, 000 voter edge statewide. All of four million Floridians have already sent in absentee ballots⁷ or have taken part in early voting. That's more than half the total votes that were cast in 2004. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

And this just in to the NPR News and NPR is calling Kentucky for McCain. NPR is now calling State of Kentucky for John McCain, also calling Mitchell Daniels, the Governor of Indiana, Mark Warner in the VA Senate race and Lindsey Graham in the Senate race in South Carolina.

Shares in a number of the major airlines were lower today after Continental⁸ said it expects per passenger seat mile revenues to post  only single digit⁹ gain at this month. That estimate is down sharply from some recent forecasts and comes at a time that oil prices have been starting to trend higher. Still many analysts¹⁰ are saying they expect commercial airlines to post better earnings¹¹ in the fourth quarter of this year than expected.

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 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

3 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》

4 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。

5 wheedled   

v.骗取（某物），哄骗（某人干某事）( wheedle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The children wheedled me into letting them go to the film. 孩子们把我哄得同意让他们去看电影了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She wheedled her husband into buying a lottery ticket. 她用甜言蜜语诱使她的丈夫买彩券。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

7 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

10 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。

11 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。