Bush, Kerry Campaigns Start Airing 'Attack' Ads

Jim Malone

President Bush's re-election campaign began running television advertisements this week that are critical of his presumed Democratic opponent in the November election, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. This comes only days after pro-Kerry groups began running their own ads attacking the president.
The new ads on behalf of the president criticize Senator Kerry on two issues - his opposition² to some of the Bush tax cuts and his insistence³ on a greater United Nations role in Iraq.
"And he wanted to delay defending America, until the United Nations approved. John Kerry-wrong on taxes, wrong on defense," the ad says.
The Kerry campaign launched a new ad barrage⁴ of its own in response, accusing the Bush re-election effort of sponsoring what it called "misleading and negative" messages.
Senator Kerry says the new Bush ad campaign is an attempt to distract voters from the real issues in the election.
"There is a Republican attack squad⁵ that specializes in trying to destroy people and be negative," he said. "I think the president needs to talk about the real priorities of our country."
The ad wars cap a particularly negative week in the early stages of the general election campaign between candidates Bush and Kerry.
Senator Kerry found himself in the spotlight⁶ earlier in the week, when he made some negative remarks about Republicans to factory workers in Chicago, apparently⁷ not realizing his microphone was on.
"We are just beginning to fight here," he said. "These are the most crooked⁸, you know, lying group I've ever seen."
Those comments brought an immediate⁹ reaction from supporters of the president, including the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Illinois Congressman¹⁰ Dennis Hastert.
"If you ask me, he is getting off on the wrong foot in this campaign, name-calling," he said. "We are not lying when we say that Senator Kerry is the old-time Democrat¹ [who likes to], tax and spend."
The president does mention Senator Kerry by name in his speeches now, hammering away at their differences over tax cuts.
"When you hear, 'we are going to repeal¹¹ the tax cut', that is Washington, D.C. code for, 'I'm fixing to raise your taxes,' Mr. Bush said.
It is unusual for an incumbent¹² president to refer to an opponent by name this early in the campaign. In the 1992 campaign, then-President George Bush did not mention Bill Clinton's name until August of that year.
Norman Ornstein is a political analyst¹³ at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. "And we had the extraordinary development this last week of the incumbent president attacking his opponent by name, which is unprecedented¹⁴ at this stage."
Mr. Ornstein and other experts say that the early negative tone of the campaign could turn voters off and could make it harder for both candidates to get their attention later on.
It is also an issue of concern for former President Bill Clinton, no stranger to the modern phenomenon of attack politics.
"I don't like it when we have to demonize people who are different from us," he said. "We try to turn three-dimensional human beings into two-dimensional cartoons. It turns the voters off."
Most analysts¹⁵ say it is too early to know what impact the negative tone of the campaign will have on voters come election time in November.
Analyst Norman Ornstein says voters traditionally view a presidential election as a referendum on the incumbent in the White House.
"When voters get to the fall, they are not going to look at George Bush and John Kerry in equal terms and say, 'Which one do we want as president?' The first thing they are going to ask is whether the president deserves another four years," he said.
Mr. Ornstein says both candidates are taking a risk in running a lot of ads this early in the campaign. He says most voters simply do not start paying attention to the campaign until the final weeks.

注释：
insistence [in5sistEns] n. 坚持
barrage [5bArB:V] n. 拦阻射击
negative [5ne^Etiv] adj. 反向的，负向的
squad [skwCd] n. [军] 班
microphone [5maikrEfEun] n. 麦克风，话筒
hammer away at 接连说明，反复谈论
incumbent [in5kQmbEnt] n.（从政的）在职者，现任者
demonize [5di:mEnaiz] v. 使成为魔鬼或使变得罪恶
dimensional [di5menFEnEl] adj.……维的，……度空间的

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 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。

3 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

4 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

6 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 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。

11 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

12 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。