美国国家公共电台 NPR Democrats See Nevada As 'The Model' For A Blue Wave

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Not for 20 years has there been a Democratic governor in Nevada. It's an increasingly blue state in presidential elections. The governor's office has stayed red, but this year, Republicans face a challenge, as NPR's Leila Fadel reports.

STEVE SISOLAK: Hi, Steve Sisolak. I'm running for governor.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE²: It's Sunday afternoon, and Steve Sisolak is at the Seafood³ City Supermarket.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I'm here with Steve Sisolak.

FADEL: The Democratic candidate for governor walks through the fast-food joints⁴ at the entrance of the store passing out business cards. Today, he's focused on the Asian-American and Pacific Islander vote. They're are about 10 percent of the state. And like the country, they're the fastest growing population. But in this community, the turnout is historically low, and in the midterm election, voter turnout is unusually low across the board.

SISOLAK: We've got to turn out voters. And if we turn out the voters that we've identified, we're going to win. We're going to win up and down the ticket. If we don't, we're going to suffer the ramifications⁵ of that.

FADEL: Sisolak says that's the biggest challenge. Nevada is a purple state that bucked⁶ the swing state trend in the 2016 election largely due to Latino voters organized by the state's strongest labor⁷ union, the Culinary Union. Nevada chose Hillary Clinton. Democrats⁸ flipped¹⁰ the state legislature and delivered the first Latina senator to Congress - Catherine Cortez Masto. It's the model, says Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He's in Nevada for the day campaigning.

TOM PEREZ: The Democratic Party nationally needs to emulate¹¹ what Nevada has been doing since the beginning of 2015, which is organizing early, organizing everywhere, making sure that we have a 12-month party where we're talking to people.

FADEL: He points to the voting flyers at every checkout¹² counter of the Asian grocery store - an early voting site. He says attention to details like that is what's important.

PEREZ: You know, the old DNC had a faith-based approach to midterm elections. You know, we'd pray that the candidates would win, but we didn't do much else.

FADEL: Perez says he thinks Democrats will flip⁹ anywhere from eight to a dozen governor seats this election. The popular Republican incumbent¹³ in Nevada, Brian Sandoval, is barred from running because of term limits. So Sisolak has a chance against his Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, the current attorney general. I reached out to Laxalt's campaign for this story, too, but no one responded. Now, something is shifting this year with voter turnout. It was higher than usual during the primaries and in the first days of early voting, and the race is really a toss-up according to polls. Jon Ralston is the editor of The Nevada Independent and an expert on Nevada politics. We meet at a coffee shop.

JON RALSTON: A Nevada electorate¹⁴ reflects the nation's electorate - very polarized, it's a lower turnout election. So it's tribalism. The Republicans are going to vote for the Republican. The Democrats are going to vote for the Democrat¹.

FADEL: Like the country, Nevada votes mostly Democrat in urban areas, and it votes Republican in rural areas. So Ralston says whoever can turn out their voters will win the governorship.

RALSTON: That's how Adam Laxalt won four years ago for attorney general. He is the only candidate in modern Nevada history to have lost both the urban areas and still won a statewide race.

FADEL: Back at the grocery store, Democratic candidate Steve Sisolak wraps up his visit. The people he meets are reflective of Las Vegas' transient character - some are recent arrivals or visitors who can't vote in Nevada; others are conservatives who shake Sisolak's hand and later tell me they're not voting for him. And then there's Laurie Latta.

LAURIE LATTA: I have a question.

SISOLAK: Sure.

LATTA: What percentage of the marijuana sales go to schools?

FADEL: She registered in 2016 to vote to legalize marijuana. She thought the money that came from it would go to her kids' schools. So far, she says, that hasn't happened.

LATTA: Where's our money going? How are we going to fix the schools? 'Cause when school first started, my daughter had to sit on the floor 'cause there weren't enough desks for the kids.

FADEL: She'll vote for the person who will improve her three children's education. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Las Vegas.

(SOUNDBITE OF LIQUID STRANGER'S "DISSOLVE")

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 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 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

4 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

5 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 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》

9 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

10 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

11 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

12 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

13 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

14 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。