美国国家公共电台 NPR GOP Enthusiasm Fueled By Trump Could Undercut Democrats' Midterm Hopes

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Time now for another Weekend Long Listen. If you've been watching what's happening in the midterm elections so far, you've been hearing a lot of this.

(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING¹ MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Last night, the big winner of all the contests was President Donald J. Trump².

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Our party is strong. It is vibrant³. But it is fueled by the people who elected President Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We are the party of President Donald J. Trump.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Usually, a president's party loses power in the midterms as enthusiasm softens⁴. But President Trump has a near 90 percent approval rating among Republicans, and so he thinks his supporters will defy history. He's been tweeting that a red wave is coming in November. To find out just how the president has kept his base so fired up, NPR's Asma Khalid has been traveling the country talking to Republican voters.

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE⁵: Some of the president's strongest supporters are white, working-class men - people like James Weekley, a retired⁶ baker⁷ in Columbus. I meet him when I go knocking on doors with Working America - it's a political group affiliated⁸ with the AFL-CIO.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

KHALID: And before I even get a chance to ask Weekley about the president, he begins praising Trump's hard-line immigration policies.

JAMES WEEKLEY: Well, he's sending some of the foreigners back where they belong.

KHALID: Widespread deportations may not be popular among the general public, but they are incredibly popular among a core group of Trump's supporters. Polling has shown that blue-collar voters who support Trump are anxious about cultural changes.

WEEKLEY: Pretty soon it's going to cost us more and more and more to live here in this country because we're keeping them people and feeding them.

KHALID: White, working-class men like Weekley are one of four key types of voters in the president's base. The others are veterans, evangelicals and suburban¹⁰, college-educated Republicans. President Trump is more popular in his party than any president since World War II, with the exception of George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11. Between trade, taxes, immigration and Supreme¹¹ Court justices, President Trump has given each of his core constituencies a reason to say thanks and come back for more this November.

And Billy Neibler is eager to thank the president. I pull into his driveway just south of Columbus. And before I even get out of my rental¹² car, I spot a massive Confederate flag in his garage. The South will rise again, it proclaims - never mind that we're in the North. Neibler is originally from Kentucky. He's a welder¹³ who thinks the country's gotten soft.

BILLY NEIBLER: I've been called names. And, you know, and you just say something back or just - maybe you got in a fistfight. But it wasn't this - you know, college campuses - they've got safe spaces so you can go and cry.

KHALID: Neibler admires the president for his power and personality. But he also credits President Trump for the economy.

NEIBLER: I'm gonna say if he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be the best president in my lifetime.

KHALID: My next stop is southern West Virginia - a state where nearly 10 percent of the population are veterans. I drive through Logan County to the local vet⁹ center, where all but one of the guys I meet voted for Trump. Rudy Varney's a Vietnam War vet. And he says he's impressed with the budget increases Trump has gotten for the military. And he also loves the president's idea of a military parade on Veterans Day.

RUDY VARNEY: All the other countries do that. That doesn't mean that we went plumb¹⁴ crazy and raided people's homes or nothing. That's just showing of - our military force and letting the public know what the military is all about and their weapons. I think it's a great thing.

KHALID: Along with venerating¹⁵ the military, Varney says Trump is keeping most of his campaign promises, so what's not to like?

VARNEY: I agree with most everything he says. I wish he'd stay off tweeter (ph) or something, so everybody'd quit getting mad at him.

KHALID: Across many different groups of Republican voters, the No. 1 reason people say they voted for Trump was because they were worried about the tilt¹⁶ of the Supreme Court. And this week, the president seems ready to satisfy their demands with another conservative justice. The balance of the Supreme Court solidified¹⁷ evangelical support behind Trump during the 2016 campaign. So next, I head to the campus of Cedarville University, a Christian¹⁸ college in Ohio.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KHALID: And there I meet Kristen Cochran, a political science major who says her faith is the most important factor in her vote.

KRISTEN COCHRAN: As an individual, I mean, there are certain things about him that I don't love. But there are things he's working towards, especially a crackdown on Planned Parenthood and to potentially revert¹⁹ some of the past prohibitions²⁰ on abortion²¹.

KHALID: A recent survey showed 75 percent of white evangelicals have a positive opinion of Trump. For some perspective, the president's overall approval rating with the general public is around 40 percent. My last stop is in the northern Atlanta suburbs, home to one of the most highly educated congressional districts in the country, where Trump failed to get a majority of the vote.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KHALID: I meet Sam Ehlers at a local festival. And like a lot of people here, he praises the president's fiscal²² policy.

SAM EHLERS: He's done a great job for the economy. Unemployment is low. Taxes have been reduced. Businesses are investing and hiring.

KHALID: The tax cuts are almost universally popular among Republicans here. Mike Davis is the kind of Republican who backed Ohio Governor John Kasich in the 2016 primaries.

MIKE DAVIS: The fringes of both parties scare me, so I'm not a far-right-winged nut. But I'm definitely on the conservative side on the right side.

KHALID: Davis tells me he was initially²³ a lukewarm Trump supporter, but his support has gotten stronger over time.

DAVIS: I love what he's doing with international relations. I love what he's done with the tax code. I love what he's done with appointments of judges. And to be honest with you, those three things trump everything in my mind - no pun intended.

KHALID: Davis says the one thing he does not love is the president's tweeting, but even that he justifies²⁴.

DAVIS: I think that that is an excellent way for him to deal with a news media that is hell-bent on destroying him.

KHALID: Many voters had some iteration of this complaint - that the media is on a mission to destroy the president. And the more critics attack the president, the more fiercely his defenders²⁵ protect him. In fact, in interviews with over 50 Republicans across three states, I only met one person who said she regrets voting for Trump. There is no doubt Democrats²⁶ are highly engaged this year. A recent study from the Pew Research Center found they are more enthusiastic about the midterms than Republicans. But that same study also found Republicans are more enthusiastic this year than they were in the 2014 midterms. That year, they won control of the Senate and expanded their majority in the House. And so GOP enthusiasm fueled by President Trump could undercut Democrats' ambition this year and keep Republicans in power. Asma Khalid, NPR News.

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 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。

3 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

4 softens   

（使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• Iron softens with heat. 铁受热就软化。
• Moonlight softens our faults; all shabbiness dissolves into shadow. 月光淡化了我们的各种缺点，所有的卑微都化解为依稀朦胧的阴影。 来自名作英译部分

5 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。

6 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。

7 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

8 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

9 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

10 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

13 welder   

n电焊工

参考例句：

• He left school at 15 to become an apprentice to a welder.他15岁离开了中学成为一个焊接工人的学徒。
• Welder done at least once a month when the dust handling.焊机时每月至少做一次除尘处理。

14 plumb   

adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深

参考例句：

• No one could plumb the mystery.没人能看破这秘密。
• It was unprofitable to plumb that sort of thing.这种事弄个水落石出没有什么好处。

15 venerating   

敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Indulgences were normally conditional on venerating a relic, performing some religious practice, or making a gift. 免罪罚通常以崇拜圣物、从事一些宗教活动或施舍钱物为条件。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

16 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

17 solidified   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Her attitudes solidified through privilege and habit. 由于特权和习惯使然，她的看法变得越来越难以改变。
• When threatened, he fires spheres of solidified air from his launcher! 当危险来临，他就会发射它的弹药！

18 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

19 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

20 prohibitions   

禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例

参考例句：

• Nowadays NO PARKING is the most ubiquitous of prohibitions. 今天，“NO PARKING”（禁止停车），几乎成了到处可见的禁止用语了。
• Inappropriate, excessive or capricious administration of aversive stimulation has led to scandals, lawsuits and prohibitions. 不恰当的、过度的或随意滥用厌恶性刺激会引起人们的反感、控告与抵制。

21 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

22 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

23 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

24 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

25 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 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》