密歇根新闻广播 卡勒里参加州长竞选

 

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley has announced that he is, indeed, a candidate for the Republican nomination¹ for governor next year, which wasn't exactly a surprise.

In fact, he has been expected to get in for so long some were starting to think that maybe he wouldn't run after all.

Something like that happened eight years ago, when then-lieutenant² governor John Cherry was widely expected to try to succeed his boss, Jennifer Granholm. But in January, Cherry announced that he wasn't running.

He said he was having trouble raising money, but I suspected the real truth was that it was going to be a horrible year for Democrats³. Governor Granholm was unpopular, there was a backlash against the Affordable⁴ Care Act, and Republicans went on to sweep Michigan that fall.

Now, the reverse is more or less true. Governor Rick Snyder is deeply unpopular, and President Trump⁵'s approval ratings are at historic lows. If that weren't bad enough, the Snyder-Calley administration has the burden of being seen as the guys who poisoned Flint.

On top of that, Calley has another problem. He gets into this race as a huge underdog to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who has been running for years, and has a huge fund-raising and name recognition advantage.

Calley, despite being lieutenant governor for almost seven years, is still largely unknown statewide. He could probably walk into any major shopping mall anywhere in this state and be unrecognized. He is popular with those who have family members with autism. The lieutenant governor's daughter is autistic, and he has worked hard to increase autism awareness⁶, and to make sure insurance companies cover treatment for autism.

Yet beyond that, he faces an uphill climb. His pre-campaign was largely notable for a series of misfirings. Calley's signature issue has been a petition drive to make Michigan's legislature part-time, something he unveiled at the Mackinac Conference last May. But the launch was shaky, and the organizers lost time and had to throw out several thousand signatures when the petitions had to be redone.

In addition, the effort has been widely denounced as wrong-headed, even dangerous, by not only Democrats, but by many normally Republican allies, such as Rich Studley, the head of the Michigan Chamber⁷ of Commerce. Calley has now handed off the petition drive to other leadership, but it seems fair to say he didn't get the lift from it he wanted.

Still, I think having him in the race is good for all concerned -- including Bill Schuette. While there are also a few lesser-known candidates, like state Senator Pat Colbeck, Schuette deserves to be tested by a heavyweight challenger. Calley is of a different generation than Schuette; at 40, he is young enough to be the 64-year-old attorney general's son.

Schuette is also widely viewed as opportunistic and catering⁸ mainly to the hard right, and Calley may appeal to those Republicans who are not too thrilled with Donald Trump.

That remains⁹ to be seen. Recently, I asked three longtime Republicans who they'd most like as their candidate. Their response: Macomb County Public Works Commissioner¹⁰ Candice Miller¹¹, who they thought could beat any opponent in either party.

My guess is that if they agree on little else, both Calley and Schuette are happy she's staying out of this race.

Jack¹² Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹³. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 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。

2 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

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 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

11 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

12 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。