U.S. Election Fuels Political Partisanship

 

By Brent Hurd

The man President Bush called the architect of his successful re-election, Karl Rove, is rarely in the spotlight¹. Yet he took center stage after the election victory. On a Fox News television program, he asserted that Republicans could be in power for decades. "Would I like to see the Republican Party be the dominant² party for whatever time history gives it the chance to be?" he said. "You bet. I believe in the principles of the Republican Party."

About 60 million Americans voted for President Bush, awarding him more ballots⁴ than any other president in US history. Although his challenger, Senator John Kerry, fell short by 3.5 million votes, that was enough to win the presidency⁵ in all previous elections. The contest drew one of the highest voter turnouts in US history -- nearly 60 %. Why did each candidate do so well?

Tim Hibbits is a leading independent pollster in the western state of Oregon.  He says enormous loyalty⁶ in both political parties brought more voters to the ballot³ box. "I think the last election was a highly partisan⁷ election, and I think a significant number of people who identified clearly as Republicans or Democrats⁸ were strongly supportive of their party's nominee," he said.

Data from a long-term University of Michigan study indicate such partisanship¹⁰ has been on the rise since the late 1970s. Nicholas Valentino, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, he says that today one in three Americans strongly identify with either the Republican or Democratic Party. "The number of people who say they were strong partisans⁹ in 1978 was 23%," he said. "The number of people who say they are strong partisans now is 33%.  So it is an increase in strong partisanship."

Professor Valentino says exit polls after the election revealed another trend:  an increase in the number of independent voters. However, the notion that up to a third of US voters are independent is misleading. Most lean toward one party or the other. Only about one in ten Americans are altogether independent, never identifying with either party. "There is evidence showing that more people are willing to say I'm independent, but also more people are taking very strong positions on partisanship," he said. "In other words, there is polarization. So what has happened is people in between those two extremes have started to decrease. So either people are very strong in their feelings or they want to insist they are mostly neutral or independent."

Pollster Tim Hibbits adds that the two main political parties are strongly identifying with core issues on opposite sides of the ideological¹¹ fence. "I think Parties and issues are blending to a degree," he said. "It used you to be you had a more moderate liberal republican wing and a more conservative democratic wing within those parties. Now the parties are lining¹² up more ideologically¹³."

But Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, says social issues like same sex marriage and abortion¹⁴ were not as important in the recent presidential election as the media reported. "The exit poll focus on cultural and moral values was almost laughable," he said. 'That has been there for many years. It was not the number-one issue. Terrorism and Iraq were the main issues by far."  

Mr. Sabato says the global war on terror has added to more partisanship. He believes that the trend towards intense party loyalty will continue to rise. This, in turn, will sharply define differences between Democrats and Republicans.

For focus, this is Brent Hurd.

注释：
architect 建筑师
spotlight 聚光灯
assert 宣称
dominant 有统治权的，优势的
pollster 民意测验专家
loyalty 忠诚
polarization 两极分化
neutral 中立的
ideological 意识形态的
laughable 可笑的

1 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。

2 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

3 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。

4 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》

5 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。

6 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

7 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

8 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》

9 partisans   

游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙

参考例句：

• Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
• He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。

10 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

11 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

12 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

13 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。