Bush, Kerry Political Ad Campaigns Heat Up Early

 

Jim Malone

The U.S. presidential election may be six and one-half months away, but the Kerry and Bush campaigns are already hitting the television airwaves with a barrage¹ of advertisements normally reserved for the final weeks of an election campaign.
For weeks now, the Bush re-election campaign has been running television ads in 18 states that both parties view as critical battlegrounds in the November election.
The Bush ad campaign is an effort to portray² Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee³, as a liberal who favors tax increases and has a habit of changing his positions on various issues. "Raising taxes is a habit of Kerry's," says the ad. "He has supported higher gasoline taxes 11 times. Maybe, John Kerry just doesn't understand what his ideas mean to the rest of us."
The Kerry campaign is now responding with an ad campaign of its own that intends to allow the candidate to present himself to the public in his own words.
The ad war has been driven into the background in recent days because of the situation in Iraq. Senator Kerry has been critical of the president's handling of Iraq, calling on the administration to line up more international help.
Kerry surrogates have been arguing his case on American television. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe debated the issue on NBC's 'Today' program. "You know what, George Bush misled the American public," said Mr. McAuliffe. "They politicized and embellished⁵ the intelligence data. John Kerry believed the commander in chief when he told him things that turned out not to be true."
On the other side, Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie pointed⁶ out that Senator Kerry supported the congressional resolution that gave the president the approval to use military force against Saddam Hussein. "Senator Kerry, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had the same access to intelligence that President Bush had," said Mr. Gillespie, "and he made a very forceful case, as a member of that committee, in support of the war in Iraq, before he reversed himself under pressure in the Democratic primaries from Howard Dean."
The Bush campaign has begun running a new television ad that questions Senator Kerry's support of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Political analysts⁸ say the Bush ads targeting Senator Kerry have had an impact in slightly increasing a negative public view of the Massachusetts senator in several recent polls. But the experts also say the race remains⁹ virtually dead heat, with the president struggling to defend his policy in Iraq and the administration's handling of the terrorist threat prior to the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Norm Ornstein is a political analyst⁷ with the American Enterprise Institute here in Washington. He says despite the Bush campaign's efforts to influence the public's view of Senator Kerry, it is more likely that the election will come down to what the voters think of President Bush. "When an incumbent¹⁰ is running, it is about the incumbent," said Mr. Ornstein. "Kerry has to [talk about] having plans, but that is about it. In the end, the judgment¹¹ that people will make is based on the question, does [President Bush] deserve another four years?"
Most analysts believe the election will be decided¹² for the most part on three key issues - the situation in Iraq, the president's handling of the war on terrorism and the health of the U.S. economy.

注释：
airwaves [5eEweivz] n. 电视广播
barrage [5bArB:V] n. [喻] 倾泻
line up 排成列（行）
surrogate [5sQrE^it] n. 代理,
embellish⁴ [im5beliF] v. 添加细节，添加修饰
pointed out 指出
reversed [ri5vE:st] adj. 颠倒的
American Enterprise Institute美国企业研究所
incumbent [in5kQmbEnt] n.（从政的）在职者
deserve [di5zE:v] vt. 值得，应受

1 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。

2 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

3 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。

4 embellish   

v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰

参考例句：

• I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。
• Can you embellish your refusal just a little bit?你可以对你的婉拒之辞略加修饰吗？

5 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 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。