2006年VOA标准英语-Iraq War Issue Dominates US Congressional Elect

By Jim Malone
Washington
01 November 2006

With less than one week to go until Election Day, Republicans are trying to fend¹ off a strong challenge from opposition² Democrats⁴ for control of the U.S. Congress.  The war in Iraq continues to dominate the U.S. election campaign.

 
Former President Bill Clinton greets fellow democrats at a campaign rally in Massachusetts
The latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll shows 52 percent of those surveyed want Democrats to control Congress, compared to 37 percent who want Republicans to remain in charge.  That 15 -point advantage for Democrats comes only days before the election and is the largest margin⁵ recorded on that question in that particular poll.

Congressman⁶ Harold Ford⁷ is a Democrat³ running for the Senate in Tennessee.  He told Fox television that the war in Iraq is the major factor helping⁸ Democrats and hurting Republicans.

"They are sick of this war," said Congressman Ford.  "They are sick of a Republican Congress that cannot fix their borders.  They are sick of a Republican Senate that has allowed health premiums⁹ to continue to go up and they are sick of the White House, the Congress and the Senate for not doing better for working people."

Republicans want to shift the debate away from Iraq to their record on cutting taxes and President Bush's handling of the overall war on terror.

House Republican leader John Boehner told ABC's This Week program that efforts by Democrats to turn the election into a national referendum on the Iraq war will fail.

"We do not have a national election and all these big national polls that show the trends do not mean anything, because what we have are 435 individual races all around the country," he said.

In addition to the 435 House seats at stake, there are 33 Senate races and 36 contests for state governor.  Democrats need a gain of 15 seats in the House and six seats in the Senate to regain¹⁰ control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994.

The latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll found 54 percent of those surveyed do not believe the Iraq war was worth the cost, compared to 37 percent who do.

The decline in public support has caused even some Republican candidates to call on the president to change course in Iraq, though none of them supports an immediate¹¹ withdrawal¹² of U.S. troops.

In his campaign appearances around the country on behalf of Republican candidates, President Bush says insurgents¹³ in Iraq have stepped up attacks to influence the U.S. election.

 
President Bush speaks during a rally
"Our enemies hope these violent images will cause us to lose our nerve and pull out before the job is done," said president Bush.  "They do not understand the United States of America.  We will not run from thugs and assassins."

Mr. Bush has also called for Democratic Senator John Kerry to apologize for remarks Kerry made to college students in California this week.  Kerry urged the students to do well in school because if they did not, they could, in his words, "get stuck in Iraq."

President Bush said the comment was an insult to U.S. troops in Iraq.  Kerry said it was a botched joke and that he was trying to make fun of the president's less than stellar academic record in college.

Kerry also accused Republicans of trying to use his remarks to distract voters from Iraq.  He spoke¹⁴ on the Don Imus program on MSNBC television.

 
US Senator John Kerry
"Iraq is what this is about.  They know it.  They are trying to change the topic," said Senator Kerry.

Most experts believe Iraq will be a decisive issue in next week's election.

Norman Ornstein monitors U.S. politics at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"People who do not pay attention to politics know one thing.  The Republicans have got the reins¹⁵ of power.  They see the wheels coming off in Iraq.  They also do not believe that this economy is working for them," he explained.

Many political analysts¹⁷ believe that Democrats are positioned to make major gains on November 7 with a chance to recapture control of both the House and Senate.

Thomas Mann is a political expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"I believe there is a huge national negative referendum on this government that will very likely, almost certainly, produce a majority for the Democrats in the House (of Representatives) with gains of 30 or more seats now increasingly likely," he said.

In the final days of the campaign, both parties are spending millions of dollars to help their candidates, primarily by running negative political ads on television and radio.

Analyst¹⁶ Norman Ornstein says that could make it difficult for the new Congress to seek common ground after the election.

"What worries me a lot now is the tone of this campaign, a last ditch, desperate effort to keep majorities in Congress," he said.  "And you have got the president out there in Georgia the other day saying that if the Democrats win, the terrorists win.  How do you go from a campaign where the basic theme is traitor¹⁸, traitor, traitor, to the next day saying, you know, we can do some business here on immigration and Social Security.  It does not work very well."

In terms of specific races, Democrats are looking to win House seats currently held by Republicans in the northeast and upper Midwest.

Democrats are also in position to possibly pick up Republican Senate seats in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana.

Republicans believe they have a chance to win Senate seats held by Democrats in New Jersey¹⁹ and Maryland.

The closest Senate races at the moment appear to be in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia, all seats currently held by Republicans.

1 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

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 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 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》

5 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。

6 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。

7 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

11 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。

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

13 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

16 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。

17 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。

18 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

19 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。