US Presidential Campaigns Seek Support in Swing State of Ore

 

By Mike O'Sullivan

The U.S. presidential campaign is heating up in a number of so-called battleground states, where the election outcome remains¹ too close to call. The northwestern state of Oregon is one of these battleground states, and it is getting a lot of attention from the political parties.

Robert Eisinger, the head of the political science department at Lewis and Clark College, says Oregon is much like other battleground states, where either candidate could come out a winner.

"You see in many ways two states here, a remarkably² rural, conservative state, and an urban, liberal state. And when you mix it together, you find that Oregon becomes a battleground state with regard to presidential politics."

Democrat³ Al Gore⁴ won here in 2000 by less than 7,000 votes. Some polls give Democrat John Kerry the edge this year, but Republicans cite other polls that put President Bush ahead. At Republican headquarters in Salem, south of Portland, volunteers are manning the phone banks.

"Hi, my name is Nick and I'm a local volunteer calling on behalf of President Bush," one volunteer says. "The president's tax relief packages have helped revive our economy. Over 1.5 million new jobs have been created in the past 10 months…"

Wayne Brady coordinates⁵ the volunteers who spread the Republican message, including 16-year-old Nick Gower, several retirees and local grandmothers. He says they are calling voters to identify Bush supporters, and will follow up later to make sure they cast their ballots⁷.

"Because I think it's extremely important to get President Bush reelected. I'm concerned about the war on terror, and I think the president is the best person to do that job."

Dave Jackson, a Vietnam veteran, also thinks security is the big issue in this election. He came here a week ago to pick up a sign for his front lawn supporting President Bush, and has been working as a volunteer days and evenings since then.

"I'm recruiting volunteers and then at nights, we're calling people with short surveys," he says.

The surveys deal with issues like national security and taxes, which Republicans say rank high with the president's likely supporters.

An hour by car from Salem, close to downtown Portland, other volunteers are making phone calls and entering data on computers in support of John Kerry.

Volunteer Dave Engels of Woodburn, Oregon, accuses President Bush of making "a mess of the world" and the U.S. economy. Mr. Engels who suffers from a neurological illness, is also opposed to Mr. Bush because of the president's position on a controversial type of medical research. "I have Parkinson's disease, and he's sitting on the funding for stem cell research," he says.

President Bush opposes federal funding for medical research using embryonic⁸ stem cells, citing moral concerns over the destruction of human embryos⁹. Supporters of the research, including Senator Kerry, say it offers hope to people with degenerative conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Some voters are motivated largely by single issues. A number of liberal voters want to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, sparking an issue that has rallied conservatives. Many Republicans are backing an Oregon ballot⁶ measure to restrict marriage to a man and woman.

Mr. Bush opposes gay marriage. Mr. Kerry says he also opposes it, but is considered sympathetic to gay rights issues. Both sides hope the Oregon measure will motivate their supporters to vote.

For many the state, where unemployment is high, the economy is the key issue. Dee Craig-Arnold, also a volunteer for the Kerry campaign, says she wants a candidate who will create opportunities for African Americans like her.

"I think it's so important for all of us to be involved in the political process, and particularly now, when I believe that our country's in jeopardy¹⁰. And I have a grandson that I raise, and I want his life to be better."

Kevin Mannix, chairman of Oregon's Republicans, says people seeking opportunities are more often drawn¹¹ to the Republican party. He says the party is reaching out to entrepreneurs and immigrants, and those who share the Republican view that excessive regulation is hurting regional industries like timber.

The party is targeting voters in the suburbs and rural areas, while maintaining the morale¹² of Republicans in Democratic enclaves. He says Oregon is like a lake with several islands.

"And the lake is generally the rural and suburban¹³ areas, which tend to be Republican, and the islands are the Eugene and Portland communities, which tend to be Democratic. And the water is rising in this lake."

The third party candidacy of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader might have buoyed¹⁴ Republican fortunes. Mr. Nader is an environmentalist and critic of big business, and while his impact is debated, he draws many liberal votes that would otherwise go to Senator Kerry. Running on the Green Party ticket four years ago, he drew five percent of Oregon's presidential vote.

This year, however, a Democratic state official invalidated some petition signatures from Mr. Nader's supporters, keeping his name off the ballot in Oregon. A lower court reversed the action, but the Oregon supreme¹⁵ court reinstated it. Mr. Nader will run in Oregon as a write-in candidate.

The action has infuriated Nader sympathizers, who accuse Oregon Democrats¹⁶ of "dirty tricks." It has also upset Republicans, who now face a more unified¹⁷ opposition¹⁸. Mr. Mannix says, however, it won't make too much difference because many Naderites are backing Senator Kerry this time around.

The Nader campaign is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but spokesman Greg Kafoury admits that Mr. Nader faces an uphill battle.

"He is loved and respected by vast numbers of people, a rather small percentage of whom will vote for him. Many of the rest are consumed by fear of George Bush and so they've adopted this 'anybody but Bush' mantra."

Paige Richardson, Oregon director for the Kerry campaign, says this presidential election may be as close as the election in 2000, which was decided¹⁹ on the basis of barely 500 votes in Florida. She says battleground states like Oregon really matter.

"As the elections are becoming closer and decided by smaller and smaller margins²⁰ nationally, every state matters. States with fewer electoral votes are on the radar²¹ screen this time, and Oregon certainly is because neither party wins without Oregon's seven votes."

That may an overstatement, but Oregon's seven electoral votes are a coveted²² prize this year. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency²³, and barring a shift in public opinion, only a handful of states are still in play.

The vote in Oregon is now conducted entirely²⁴ by mail, so the polling will start in mid-October. Results should be announced late on election day, November 2.

Mike O'Sullivan, VOA News, Portland, Oregan.

注释：
remarkably 非常地，显著地
conservative 保守的
Oregon 俄勒冈州
Salem 塞伦
revive 复兴
cast 投
ballot 选票
Vietnam 越南
veteran 老兵
neurological 神经上的
embryonic 胚胎的
stem cells 干细胞
degenerative 退化的，变质的
Alzheimer's disease 阿滋海默症，即老年痴呆症
sympathetic 赞成的
entrepreneur 企业家
timber 木材
infuriate 激怒
dirty trick 卑鄙的行为
mantra 颂歌，说法
overstatement 大话

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

3 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。

4 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。

5 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

9 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

10 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

13 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

14 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 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》

17 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

21 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

22 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。