2006年VOA标准英语-US Democrats Encouraged About Election Chances

By Jim Malone
Washington
19 October 2006

Less than three weeks before U.S. congressional elections, Democrats¹ are enthusiastic about their chances, while Republicans are in a defensive² mode, hoping to limit Democratic gains.

 
US Capitol, Washington DC
A new public-opinion poll conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal highlights the political challenges that lie ahead for the Republicans.

Only 16 percent of voters in the survey approved of the job the Republican-led Congress is doing.  That is the lowest approval rating for Congress since 1992.

The same poll also found that voters preferred the Democrats to be in control of Congress by a margin³ of 52 percent to 37 percent.

Democrats, like Maryland Congressman⁴ Chris Van Hollen, believe public discontent over the Iraq war is a major factor in this year's election.

"They see that we have not completed the job against Osama bin⁵ Laden⁶ and al-Qaida in Afghanistan," he said.  "They see that we took our eye off the ball there and went into Iraq.  And they see that what we have in Iraq is a mess and chaos⁷ and the result of many, many things, including gross incompetence⁸ by the Bush administration."

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are at stake this year, as well as 33 seats in the 100-member Senate and 36 state governorships.

Democrats need to gain 15 House seats to retake control of that chamber⁹ and six additional seats to recapture control of the Senate.

Republicans are trying to shift the focus of the election debate away from Iraq to national security concerns like terrorism and economic issues like taxes.

Republicans also insist the House races will be determined¹⁰ more by local issues and personalities¹¹, not national trends.

 
Rep. Tom Reynolds speaks at a fundraiser in Amherst, NY, Oct. 4, 2006
New York Congressman Tom Reynolds is leading the Republican effort to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives.

"We are dealing¹² with fierce contests, fought by local personalities on local, pocketbook issues," he said.  "The old saying still rings true, voters may hate Congress, but they like their congressman."

Most congressional elections are fought more over local issues.  But public opinion surveys have for months suggested that Republicans face a negative public mood as Election Day approaches.

"National polling and polls in individual [congressional] districts are very clear," said Stuart Rothenberg, who publishes a non-partisan political newsletter in Washington.  "Voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, they are dissatisfied with the performance of their political leaders, including the president, and certainly including Congress.  They are pessimistic."

Experts say much of the bad mood is directly traceable to the difficulties in Iraq.

"And at this point, I think, Iraq is even making us pessimistic about the American economy," said Karlyn Bowman, who monitors public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "So, it is Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, I think, probably number one, two and three [in priority], with everything else falling in a pretty distant second place."

 
Rep. Mark Foley (file photo)
In addition to Iraq, Republicans are also concerned about the recent scandal involving former Republican Congressman Mark Foley and the sexually suggestive e-mails he sent to young male pages who worked in Congress.

Republicans worry the Foley scandal could hurt their efforts to encourage Christian¹³ conservatives to vote on November 7.

Democrats are growing increasingly confident about their prospects¹⁴ of winning the House and possibly the Senate.  Democratic control of even one chamber of Congress would have a major impact on the balance of power in Washington.

"And everybody in Washington believes that, if the Democrats take control of one or both chambers¹⁵ [of Congress], there will be a lot of investigations¹⁶ about the administration," said analyst¹⁷ Stuart Rothenberg.  "And not just Iraq, but also the response to Hurricane Katrina last year, health care, prescription¹⁸ drugs, gas prices."

President Bush's top political adviser¹⁹, Karl Rove, told The Washington Times newspaper that he remains²⁰ confident Republicans will prevail in the elections, in part because they have been better than Democrats at mobilizing their core supporters to vote in recent elections.

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 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 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。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

15 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

16 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

17 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。

18 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

19 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

20 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。