克林顿能否赢得民主党的第三任任期？

AS IT IS 2016-07-28 Can Clinton Win a Third Term for Democrats²? 克林顿能否赢得民主党的第三任任期？

President Barack Obama is asking voters to elect Democrat¹ Hillary Clinton or risk dangerous policy changes by Republican Donald Trump³.

But Clinton, who made history as the first woman to win a major party presidential nomination⁴, faces a historical problem.

Only once since 1960 has a two-term president been replaced by a candidate from the same party. Democrat Clinton is trying to succeed Democrat Obama, who ends his 2nd term as president on January 20, 2017.

Clinton is scheduled to accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Trump, a wealthy businessman, accepted the Republican nomination in Cleveland, Ohio, last week.

Voters want change

It is difficult to succeed a two-term president of the same party because voters often want change, said Matthew Kerbel. He is the chair of the political science department at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

“It will be tough for Hillary Clinton to make a credible⁵ argument that she will bring a change in direction,” Kerbel said. “What Hillary has going for her is that Donald Trump hasn’t yet sold the nation on the type of change he would bring if elected president.”

The one time in the last 56 years a candidate succeeded a two-term president of the same party was in 1988. Republican George H.W. Bush beat Democrat Michael Dukakis to succeed Republican President Ronald Reagan. Bush was Reagan’s vice⁶ president and some called his election, “Reagan’s third term.”

All other efforts since 1960 failed.

In 1960, Republican Richard Nixon lost to Democrat John F. Kennedy, as he tried to succeed two-term Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.

In 1968, Democrat Hubert Humphrey lost to Republican Nixon to succeed Democrat Lyndon Johnson. Johnson served the final 14 months of Kennedy’s first term and then four more years after his election in 1964. Nixon won a 2nd term in 1972.

Republican Gerald Ford⁷, who became president after Nixon resigned in 1974, lost the 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore⁸ lost to Republican George W. Bush. Gore was trying to succeed Democrat Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband, who served two terms as president. Gore was Clinton’s vice president.

In 2008, Obama defeated Republican John McCain. McCain was hoping to replace George W. Bush. McCain asked Bush not to campaign for him. Bush was unpopular because of a major economic collapse⁹ in 2008 and an unpopular war in Iraq.

At the convention on Tuesday night, all speakers talked about Hillary Clinton’s historical achievement but one – Bill Clinton. The former president had this to say about his wife: "She's the best darn change-maker I've ever met in my whole life."

Obama to campaign for Clinton

Clinton has said she wants Obama to campaign for her and Obama has said he will do so often between now and the Nov. 8th election. A Washington Post/ABC News poll last month said 56 percent of Americans view Obama favorably, his highest rating in five years.

Obama beat Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. But he said, “there has never been a candidate better prepared for the presidency¹⁰ than Hillary Clinton.”

The president also criticized Trump for failing to “spend a lot of time trying to find out about issues,” such as U.S. nuclear defense¹¹ options, or the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Trump responded Wednesday by saying it is Obama and Clinton who are not prepared to lead the country.

On Wednesday, he called Obama “the most ignorant president in our history" and "a disaster."

“And I believe Hillary Clinton is even worse,” he said.

Words in This Story

credible -- adj. reasonable to trust or believe

replace -- v. to take over a job for someone

poll -- n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

prepared -- v. ready and qualified¹² to do a job

option -- n. something that can be chosen

respond -- v. to say or write something as an answer to a question, request of charge

ignorant -- adj. lacking knowledge or information

1 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。

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 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。

4 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。

5 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

8 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。