美国国家公共电台 NPR Looming Trump Impeachment Trial Adds Urgency To Senators' Cam

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The four senators running for president will be otherwise occupied for the next few weeks.

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BERNIE SANDERS: Now, all of you are aware that my schedule has kind of changed a bit.

KING: That's Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire over the weekend. He and the other senators will be stuck in Washington six days a week because they are serving as jurors in the impeachment¹ trial of President Trump². They won't be able to campaign, so what are they going to do? NPR's Scott Detrow has some answers.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE³: Every four years, the snow and weather add an extra challenge to those final weeks of campaigning in Iowa.

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ELIZABETH WARREN: Good to see you all. Boy, I know I'm here with the brave, the tough, the ones who take on the snow. So it is great...

DETROW: Snow and ice blanketed Iowa and, later, New Hampshire this weekend. But Elizabeth Warren and the other senators running for president pressed forward, not knowing when they'll be back. Most people at events this weekend said they don't think it will be a problem that the candidates they're backing are tied up with impeachment. Before that town hall in Newton, Warren supporter Lynn Muhs pointed⁴ out the campaign's been going on for a year.

LYNN MUHS: If you haven't seen them now, you know, it's kind of crazy. So I think that the fact that they're not going to be out doing this is fine. They're back in Washington doing what we need them to do.

DETROW: The candidates are following this lead, or at least that's what they say. They're talking up their constitutional duty. And Amy Klobuchar told the crowd in Coralville that she's not especially worried.

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AMY KLOBUCHAR: I'm a mom, and I can balance things really well.

DETROW: Bernie Sanders was in New Hampshire this weekend; so was Michael Bennet. Sanders has already scheduled a Wednesday night rally in Iowa. He'll fly to the state after the day's trial session and then back to Washington the next morning. Klobuchar's campaign doesn't have as much money as Sanders', so she's going to have to be a bit more creative.

KLOBUCHAR: Yeah, I guess I'll have to do it over Skype. We will find a way.

DETROW: She and the other senators will all rely heavily on surrogates, too. It's been clear for months that this scheduling conflict was coming, so Klobuchar sped up her schedule for hitting every single Iowa county.

KLOBUCHAR: Part of this is I'm just cramming⁵ everything I can do into every waking hour, which is why, by the way, in December, we did those 27 counties in, like, 3 1/2 days. Two of the days, we did 10 counties each...

DETROW: Especially among the Democratic base, no one seems to be holding the impeachment commitments against the senators, but there still could be a cost, especially for Klobuchar, who's trying to gain ground. Just after signing a card committing to caucus⁶ for Klobuchar, Tim Behlke said he was worried.

TIM BEHLKE: To not be able to get out there and meet more people to support her views and causes, I can't see how that wouldn't hurt someone.

DETROW: Like so many Democrats⁷, Behlke is deciding based on who he thinks could beat Trump in the Electoral College. But so many Democrats are so worried about a second Trump term that they're hesitating to commit to a candidate. Polls show a lot of people in Iowa could still change their mind and are still looking to be convinced in the final days. The mood is best summed up by this exchange with Renee Kleinpeter, who was waiting to see Warren in Newton.

Who's it down to for you?

RENEE KLEINPETER: (Laughter).

DETROW: She just wants some reassurance⁸.

KLEINPETER: I'll go with anybody who can beat Trump. I wish somebody would tell me. (Laughter).

DETROW: But in between now and caucus night, the senators in the race won't have as many chances to make that argument for themselves in person. Scott Detrow, NPR News, Des Moines.

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1 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

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 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 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 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》

8 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。