Clinton, Trump Must Overcome High Negatives

AS IT IS 2016-06-09 Clinton, Trump¹ Must Overcome High Negatives

Democrat² Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump are running for president facing historically negative views from voters.

Larry Sabato of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia said Americans always complain about their presidential candidates.

“It’s in the American character,” he said.

But this year is different. Both candidates have more voters viewing them unfavorably than favorably, according to a CBS/New York Times survey. CBS said the negatives for both candidates in its March survey were the highest of any presidential race since 1984.

David Redlawst is a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey³.

“Democrats are strongly negative on Trump and Republicans strongly negative on Clinton,” he said. “And the folks in the middle are more negative than positive, with the edge to Trump on negativity.”

The two likely nominees⁵, however, have five months to Election Day on November 8 to change voters’ negative views.

Clinton Seeking Sanders Voters

Clinton needs to win over supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders. In April, about 25 percent of Sanders’ supporters said that they won’t vote for Clinton.

Trump, a New York businessman, has faced tough criticism from Republican leaders. The two top Republican congressional leaders said this week that they considered Trump’s statements that a judge with Mexican heritage couldn’t judge him fairly to be racist⁶. But they said they still support Trump.

Howard Dean is a former Democratic governor of Vermont who ran for his party’s presidential nomination⁷ in 2004. Billy Tauzin served 25 years as a U.S. congressman⁸ – 15 as a Democrat and the last 10 as a Republican. Dean supports Clinton for president and Tauzin supports Trump.

Dean agrees that both candidates have high negatives. But he said that the possibility of Trump becoming president will scare people enough to vote for Clinton. She is a former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady.

Tauzin said that Trump has a chance to win because voters are angry with politicians from both parties. Trump is running as a “successful businessman,” not a politician.” What he needs to do, Tauzin said, is hire smart people and offer specifics on how he will “make America great again.”

Norm Ornstein is the political and government expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

He is not sure that Trump will listen to those who tell him to “get on script,” and stop attacking anybody who criticizes him.”

“I have no doubt that people are whispering into his ear and telling him, ‘You can’t say that – just as the pundits⁹ have been saying all along,” Ornstein said.

“But every time he said something outrageous¹⁰, he continued marching through the primaries and eliminated the large Republican field before Hillary Clinton won enough delegates to beat Bernie Sanders.”

Ornstein said it would be easier for Clinton to change the views of voters with negative views of her than it will be for Trump to win over his critics.

Clinton, the first woman presidential nominee⁴ from a major party, reached out to Bernie Sanders and his supporters in declaring victory Tuesday night. She won four of the six state primaries Tuesday, including the big states of California and New Jersey.

Eight years ago, Clinton noted¹¹ she was in the same position as Sanders – losing out to then Democratic Senator Barack Obama for the party’s nomination.

“Now, I know it never feels good to put your heart into a cause or a candidate you believe in – and to come up short,” Clinton said. “I know that feeling well. But as we look ahead to the battle that awaits, let’s remember all that unites us.”

After winning all five Republican primaries Tuesday night, Trump read from a teleprompter, something he rarely does. It was a more serious speech than has been his custom.

“I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle¹², and I will never, ever let you down,” Trump said. “Too much work, too many people, blood, sweat and tears. Never going to let you down. I will make you proud of your party and our movement.”

Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said 2016 will be a unique year in American politics.

“We’ve never had a woman nominee from any major-party,” Sabato said. “We’ve never had a former first lady run. And goodness knows, we’ve never had a Donald Trump.”

Words in This Story

complain – v. to say you don’t like something

character – n. the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves

unfavorable, favorable – adj. to view someone poorly, while favorable means to view someone in a good way

survey – n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something

negative – n. harmful or bad

heritage – n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation

script – n. something that is written down for a person to read

whisper – v. to talk softly

pundits – n. people who are considered experts in a field such as politics

teleprompter: n. a machine that helps someone who is speaking to an audience or on television by showing the words that need to be said

mantle – n. the position of someone who has responsibility or authority

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 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。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 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。

5 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

6 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 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。

9 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

10 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。