US Democratic Presidential Candidates Meet With Low Income V

US Democratic Presidential Candidates Meet With Low Income Voters

Jim Teeple

Six of the seven Democratic candidates for president met with low-income voters Friday in Columbia, South Carolina where Democrats¹ vote in the first primary to be held in a southern state next Tuesday. The topic was at the top of the agenda Friday was jobs.

All of the Democrats except Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman gathered in South Carolina's capital where they took questions from selected guests at a candidates forum².

The event was organized by a coalition³ of labor⁴ unions and civil rights organizations. The candidates heard from unemployed⁵ workers, people who had lost their health insurance and immigrants angry about U.S. immigration laws.

The event was the first time that nearly all of the candidates had met with a predominantly African-American audience in the campaign. Many like K. Allan Campbell who works for a social service organization in Columbia say many African-Americans are worried this year.

"I think jobs is very much one of the main issues. Also, health care is definitely a main issue, poverty and just all of the issues in the social service gamut⁶. Definitely the unemployment rate is sky-high in South Carolina, and especially among African-Americans. So I would say that jobs are a real issue."

South Carolina has lost more than 60,000 jobs over the past three years. Most of the jobs were in manufacturing especially in textiles and many South Carolinians blame free trade policies for the loss of their jobs overseas.

Speaking at the forum, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, said if elected president he will change the nation's trade policies. "What has happened is that we are so focused on free trade that there is no fair trade anymore. We have to change that. We have to change trade agreements like NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) to make sure that they in fact put us on a more level playing field, so that we can keep jobs here in this country. It is so important."

Leaving the forum, Philip Harriot, who works as a deliveryman, says he feels Democrats will have the edge over Republicans in this year's election when it comes to the issue of jobs.

"Most of the people out of work here in this state are African Americans. I believe to bring jobs back here to South Carolina we will need a Democratic president to do that."

African-Americans will make up more than half of the Democratic voters in Tuesday's primary and all of the Democrats are campaigning hard to win their support.

A poll released following the last debate before the vote, shows Senator Edwards increasing his slight lead over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democratic front runner, with civil rights activist⁷ Al Sharpton in third place.

 

 

注释：

low-income [7lEu5inkQm] adj. 低收入的

agenda [E5dVendE] n. 议程

coalition [kEJE5lIF(E)n] n. （政党）联盟

gamut [5^AmEt] n. 整个范围

sky-high [7skai5hai] adj. 极高

manufacturing [7mAnju5fAktFEriN] n. 制造业

textile [5tekstail] n. 纺织品

NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement)  北美自由贸易协议

deliveryman [di5livErimEn] n. 送货员

have the edge over  胜过

make up of  构成，组成

poll [pEul] n. 民意测验

 

1 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》

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。