美国国家公共电台 NPR Stacey Abrams, Voting Rights Activist, To Deliver Democrats' Response To Trump

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump¹ will give his second State of the Union address tonight, and, as is custom, the party not in power will get a chance to present a rebuttal. Usually, that person is someone currently serving in elected office. This year, though, Democrats² have chosen Stacey Abrams, who is nationally known for losing the governor's race in Georgia last fall. From member station WABE in Atlanta, Emma Hurt reports.

EMMA HURT, BYLINE³: Usually, when politicians lose an election, they give a concession⁴ speech with polite congratulations to the victor. Stacey Abrams never gave that speech. She gave this one, 10 days after an election that was too close to call for some time.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

STACEY ABRAMS: So let's be clear. This is not a speech of concession because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that.

HURT: Among her reasons, her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, oversaw⁵ their election as Georgia's secretary of state and refused to recuse himself. Abrams also accused him of voter suppression, which he denies. Kemp won by 55,000 votes, the narrowest race in years in what's been a heavily Republican state.

JOHN LEWIS: I think it'd make a great deal of sense.

HURT: That's Georgia Congressman⁶ John Lewis on why he thinks Abrams was chosen by Democratic leadership. She's a new face and voice, he says, who has been fighting for voting reforms.

LEWIS: And making it easier for everybody to participate in a democratic process and that all of the votes should be counted.

HURT: And that's become a national issue that's also gotten partisan⁷. House Democrats have introduced a major voting rights bill known as H.R.1. Abrams has been working to register voters for years. Her campaign claims it built an unprecedented⁸ get-out-the-vote infrastructure⁹. Allegra Lawrence-Hardy was Abrams' campaign chairwoman.

ALLEGRA LAWRENCE-HARDY: The future was coming and she saw it before a lot of us did and to really build that infrastructure. And it's that momentum¹⁰ that we're harnessing that really is applicable nationwide.

HURT: And even if she didn't succeed this time, Abrams' campaign is a model for Democrats, says Andra Gillespie. She teaches political science at Emory University.

ANDRA GILLESPIE: The fact that she came as close as she did suggests that her strategy has some merit to it and if it didn't succeed this time, that perhaps it would succeed for Democrats in the future.

HURT: But still, Abrams is a unique choice. She's the first black woman to give the response, and that's not an accident, says Lewis.

LEWIS: It was the black women that tend to turn out higher, and I think it would play a role here in Georgia, throughout the South and throughout of America.

HURT: Putting more representative leadership forward is key for Democrats, says Tharon Johnson, a longtime Democratic strategist here.

THARON JOHNSON: I think that Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi have read all the polling and all the memos¹¹ that I've read and that is is that if we're going to win back the White House in 2020, we've got to do some things differently.

HURT: By appealing to a broader slice of the electorate¹², Abrams was able to outperform past Democratic candidates who were white. Again, Andra Gillespie.

GILLESPIE: So she basically dispelled¹³ any sort of fear that a strong black candidate can't be competitive as a statewide nominee¹⁴ for office.

HURT: Tonight's response comes as Abrams faces a big decision about her own political future. Will she challenge Republican Senator David Perdue in 2020 or wait for a rematch with Governor Kemp? She's given herself till the end of March to decide. For NPR News, I'm Emma Hurt in Atlanta.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STACEY ABRAMS WIN")

JAY ROCK: (Rapping) Get out and vote, get out and vote, get out and vote, yeah. Get out and vote, go ahead, hit up all them polls, yeah. Stacey, you either with her or against her, though. Just vote for Stacey, not that other bro. Win, win, win, win, win.

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 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》

3 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。

4 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

5 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

11 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 dispelled   

v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His speech dispelled any fears about his health. 他的发言消除了人们对他身体健康的担心。
• The sun soon dispelled the thick fog. 太阳很快驱散了浓雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。