密歇根新闻广播 比达在当地比在国会有更大能量

 

State Senator Steve Bieda is perhaps the biggest history buff in the Michigan legislature. He's an expert on coins, once designed one for the mint, and fought to get new replicas¹ of Civil War cannons² installed on the lawn, and to get the Capitol restored.

Born the day after John F. Kennedy became President, Bieda long dreamed of serving in Congress himself. And for a while, he thought this would be his year. When his congressman³, Sandy Levin, decided⁴ to retire after 36 years in office, Bieda, who is term-limited out of the state senate after this year, jumped in the race.

But so did the congressman's son, Andy Levin, an entrepreneur who has both the family name and has served in high appointed state government positions. Ellen Cogen Lipton, a patent attorney and former legislator, also got in the race and was endorsed⁵ by Emily's List.

As of the end of March, fundraising reports showed both Lipton and Levin had raised more than half a million dollars; Bieda had barely $128,000, beating out only the relatively⁶ unknown Martin Brook⁷, a former Bloomfield Hills school board member.

Over the weekend, Bieda made the difficult decision to end his campaign for Congress, and instead run for Macomb County Clerk and Register of Deeds.

"It was a hard decision. I'm not sure which of the five stages of grief I'm going through," he told me wryly⁸. "But I decided that not only is this the best thing for me, it is the best thing I can do for Macomb County." That may be a rationalization, but is probably very true.

We often operate under the assumption that the higher the office is, the more important it is. But in recent years, I've come to realize that this is often not the case. Republican Candice Miller⁹, also from Macomb, spent fourteen years in Congress, and probably could have stayed for decades. But she voluntarily gave it up two years ago, and came home to manage enormous infrastructure¹⁰ problems in her home county.

I have no doubt Steve Bieda, who was sometimes called the conscience of the state senate, would have been a good congressman. But he would have been a very junior individual in a body of 435 members where seniority counts for nearly everything.

Meanwhile, know what North Dakota, Delaware, Alaska and Wyoming have in common? Those entire states all have fewer people than Macomb County, Michigan. The clerk's office in any major county is its nerve center – and Macomb's, once a model of efficiency, has been horribly damaged by perhaps the most bizarre county clerk in Michigan history.

The courts have removed her, but there is plenty of repair work to be done. Bieda will have both primary and general election opposition¹¹ for the clerk's job, but this time will be the clear favorite. His integrity, calm demeanor¹², knowledge of state government and background as a tax lawyer all should be assets if he does take over the clerk's office in January.

Life, John Lennon once said, is what happens while you are making plans. I've learned that when it comes to life, public service and politics … you never can tell.

Jack¹³ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁴. 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 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

2 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 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。

5 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

8 wryly   

adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• Molly smiled rather wryly and said nothing. 莫莉苦笑着，一句话也没说。
• He smiled wryly, then closed his eyes and gnawed his lips. 他狞笑一声，就闭了眼睛，咬着嘴唇。 来自子夜部分

9 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。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

13 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。

14 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。