美国国家公共电台 NPR Parkland Survivors Launch Tour To Register Young Voters And Get Them Out In November

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The student survivors¹ turned activists² from Parkland, Fla., hit the road this summer. They'll make 50-plus stops in more than 20 states in their mission to try to turn the gun control wave they sparked in the spring into an energized³ voting block for midterm elections. The tour kicked off last night in Chicago.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Justice.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: When do we want it?

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: If we don't get it...

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Shut it down.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: If we don't get it...

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Shut it down.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: If we don't get it...

SIMON: But turnout is typically low in midterm elections, especially for young people. NPR's Brakkton Booker explains whether there are signs of change this year.

BRAKKTON BOOKER, BYLINE⁴: The tour is called Road to Change. Twenty-year-old Matt Deitsch is the chief strategist for March For Our Lives.

MATT DEITSCH: The main point of this tour is not just to educate people on gun violence and what we can do to prevent gun violence, but it is to register more people to vote.

BOOKER: In the time since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, young people have become a potent⁶ force in the gun debate. They've warned federal lawmakers enact⁷ stricter gun laws or be voted out. After three months of marches and rallies, not much has changed on the national level. Now, the tactic⁸ is mobilizing new, young voters.

DEITSCH: For the most part, we're making voting cool.

BOOKER: The hope is to rev⁵ up those potential voters through a pair of bus tours, one solely⁹ focused on Florida, another that will crisscross the nation. Organizers say that along the way they will visit places with frequent gun violence, as well as meet with pro-gun rights groups. The main focus, though, is turning out the vote. Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg studies political and civic¹⁰ engagement of young Americans at Tufts University.

KEI KAWASHIMA-GINSBERG: You know, young people generally vote at a pretty low rate in midterm years as compared to the presidential years.

BOOKER: It was paltry¹¹ for the 2014 midterms - around 16 percent for 18 to 24-year-olds, according to the Census¹² Bureau. I asked Kawashima-Ginsberg, is there any evidence things could be different in 2018?

KAWASHIMA-GINSBERG: And what we did find was that in a lot of states, the youth registration¹³ numbers have actually exceeded the numbers from the November of 2016. And that's really significant because young people mostly registered to vote for the first time in September and October of the election year.

BOOKER: She points to blue states like California and deep-red Alabama as places that have seen increases in youth voter registration. Doug Heye is a GOP strategist and says there is still a long time before the November elections.

DOUG HEYE: Maintaining voter interest and also maintaining a presence over a long-term period - we're talking about another five months - is hard to do for any kind of movement.

BOOKER: He praises how the Parkland activists have been able to sustain the gun discussion for so long. But the real test is whether they can match the voting intensity¹⁴ by those who are for gun rights.

HEYE: Most voters aren't necessarily single-issue voters, but if you are a single-issue voter and guns is the issue, what we've seen in the past is that it's the pro-Second Amendment¹⁵, pro-gun voter that really is almost guaranteed to show up at the polls.

BOOKER: Matt Deitsch, the chief strategist for March For Our Lives, is up for the challenge because he says lives are at stake.

DEITSCH: We're making voting something that isn't just checking a box. It's literally¹⁶ you being a hero and you saving lives, and that's what we have to do with this.

BOOKER: The Road to Change is in Chicago the rest of the day, before pulling into St. Louis tomorrow. Brakkton Booker, NPR News.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

6 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

7 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

8 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

9 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

10 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

11 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

12 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

13 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

14 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

15 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

16 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。