美国国家公共电台 NPR In Utah House Race, Attitudes Toward Trump Divide GOP Candidates

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

OK. We're also keeping our eye this morning on a special election in the state of Utah. Officially, this is to fill the House seat abandoned by Jason Chaffetz, who resigned last month to join Fox News. But this is really shaping up as a referendum on President Trump¹. Now, the general election is not until November, but Utah's 3rd District is so deeply red that the GOP primary next Tuesday is the real race here. Julia Ritchey from member station KUER tells us that voters are weighing three candidates with the man in the White House heavy on their minds.

JULIA RITCHEY, BYLINE²: It's evening in Provo, an hour south of Salt Lake City. A few dozen people are sitting inside an auditorium³. They're here for one of the final debates between the third district's Republican candidates before their primary on August 15. Married couple Jean and Mark Lau are undecided about which candidate to support.

MARK LAU: I would really like to see someone who would stand up to Trump and his crazy tweets and extemporaneous⁴ thoughts.

RITCHEY: Mark, who's retired⁵, is like many of his Republican neighbors. He voted to re-elect Jason Chaffetz last November, but he didn't vote for president Trump, who performed poorly here compared to past Republican presidential candidates. Mark's wife, Jean, says she wants someone who can help Trump stay focused.

JEAN LAU: I'd like to see somebody who can get along with him but at the same time who can speak up their mind and say, this is not good.

RITCHEY: That candidate might be John Curtis, the popular mayor of Provo, Utah's third-largest city. He's emerged as a frontrunner in the race. The other two Republican candidates are Chris Herrod, a former state lawmaker and Tanner Ainge, who works in private equity⁶ and is the son of Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge. Whoever wins the primary will face Democrat⁷ Kathie Allen, a local physician, this November. Branded as the most moderate, Curtis is the only candidate who didn't vote for Trump, a fact he's tried to downplay.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN CURTIS: I would aspire⁸ for the exact type of relationship I think that Donald Trump respects, which is good, thoughtful debate. I mean, he's not afraid of a debate, right?

RITCHEY: Ainge and Herrod are running to the right of Curtis and point out he was once a registered Democrat. Herrod has even championed Trump's more hard-line stances on immigration, an unpopular stance here in Utah, where Mormons support higher levels of immigration. And Herrod also supports Trump's claims that his campaign had nothing to do with Russia.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHRIS HERROD: People are tired - at least that I found - tired about talking about Trump and the collusion argument. And so the collusion argument, I think, has been way overblown.

RITCHEY: The candidates here are trying to walk a fine line between supporting a Republican president's agenda while downplaying any potential scandals. Twenty-eight-year-old Brad Talk stood outside the debate hall. He says he still supports Trump, but wishes there were a candidate more in the mold of Chaffetz, who aggressively investigated the Obama administration.

BRAD TALK: I think there isn't anybody like Chaffetz in this race right now. Obviously, that's something that is missing in this race, but we work with what we have.

RITCHEY: Scott Wessman, an unaffiliated voter, says he doesn't want the district's next member of Congress to be a rubber stamp for the Trump administration.

SCOTT WESSMAN: Independence from Trump is paramount⁹ for me personally. You know, anyone who sort of pledges fealty¹⁰ to Trump is inherently flawed.

RITCHEY: Wessman thinks a more pragmatic and less ideological¹¹ representative would be a refreshing¹² counterbalance to Washington's current dysfunction. For NPR News, I'm Julia Ritchey in Salt Lake City.

1 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。

2 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。

3 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

4 extemporaneous   

adj.即席的，一时的

参考例句：

• She made an extemporaneous speech on the ceremony.她在典礼上做了一次即兴演讲。
• Nixon carried away with it all,delivered his extemporaneous toast.尼克松对一切都很满意，颇有些情不自禁地发表了他的即席祝酒词。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

7 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。

8 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

9 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

10 fealty   

n.忠贞，忠节

参考例句：

• He swore fealty to the king.他宣誓效忠国王。
• If you are fealty and virtuous,then I would like to meet you.如果你孝顺善良，我很愿意认识你。

11 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

12 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。