密歇根新闻广播 政治言论助长仇恨,引发了最近三起仇恨犯罪

Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow was elected to the United States Senate in 2000. She now serves as the senior senator for Michigan. This November, she is running for reelection against Republican John James.

Stabenow joined Stateside to talk about her reelection campaign and the current political climate in the United States, particularly in light of a recent shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Throughout this election season, we've extended numerous invitations to Senator Stabenow'sRepublican opponent John James to join us for an interview. His campaign has either declined those requests or, as with our most recent attempt, not responded.

Stabenow says that the best way voters can stand up to bigotry¹ is to vote in the midterm elections for officials who represent the values they want the country to uphold, and who stand for a message of unity² over division.

The senator says she also wants to see action taken when it comes to gun control.

"When we were kids, we were doing fire drills, and now children are doing active shooter drills, and it's just not okay," Stabenow said.

Stabenow also said she supports an assault weapons ban, and thinks that military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians³.

Listen above to hear more about why Stabenow believes that next month's election is the most important one of her lifetime.

1 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。