2006年VOA标准英语-Iraq Seen as Major Issue in US Congressional El

By Jim Malone
Washington
21 June 2006

Iraq is expected to be a central issue in the November congressional elections in the United States. As VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington, both major political parties are shaping their strategies to appeal to voters.

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US Marines conduct a foot patrol through streets of Haditha (file photo)   
  
Opinion polls have long suggested that while the public has turned against the war in Iraq, it remains¹ split over how long U.S. troops should stay there.

Discontent over Iraq is providing the Democrats² with an opportunity to make gains in both chambers³ of Congress in the November midterm elections.

But Democrats are divided over whether to set a deadline for the withdrawal⁴ of U.S. forces from Iraq or keep troops there indefinitely until the Iraqis can maintain their own security.

Senate Democratic leader Harry⁵ Reid of Nevada acknowledges the divisions within the party. But he also says Democrats are unified⁶ on a general approach to the Iraq conflict.

"We all agree there should be a change in the course of the war," he said. "We all agree that there should be a redeployment starting sooner rather than later."

Karl Rove, right with President Bush  
  
President Bush's top political adviser⁷, Karl Rove, is urging Republicans to put Democrats on the defensive⁸ in the upcoming election by describing the Democratic approach to Iraq as cut-and-run.

It is a phrase being used more and more by Republicans including Congressman⁹ Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the Speaker of the House, who urged support for the president's policy on Iraq during a recent debate.

"The alternative would be to cut and run and wait for them to group and regroup and bring the terror back to our shores," he said. "When our freedom is challenged, Americans do not run."

Democrats are already firing back at what they see as Republican efforts to make them look weak in the war on terror.

Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel is leading the Democratic effort this year to retake control of the House of Representatives. He spoke¹⁰ on ABC television.

"One good casualty in this war on terror would be partisanship¹¹ and trying to embarrass people" he said. "What we should be doing is not dividing Americans, but bringing them together in our mission."

Republicans are concerned that President Bush's low public approval ratings may hurt their efforts to retain majorities in both the House and Senate.

But Mr. Bush insists he is ready to help Republican candidates in the election.

"And I look forward to the campaign and I believe we are going to hold the House and the Senate because our philosophy is one that is forward looking and optimistic and has worked. We got a record to run on," he said.

"A president's popularity always has an influence on the midterm elections and President Bush is low," said Larry Sabato, who directs the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "He varies somewhat from being very low to being only moderately low, but he is still low."

The president and congressional Republicans did get some good news recently when Karl Rove was informed that he would not be indicted¹² in connection with the investigation¹³ into the leaking of a covert¹⁴ CIA officer's identity three years ago.

"I think it means that Rove can refocus his attention entirely¹⁵ on the president's political standing¹⁶ and that has to be good news for the president," said Washington-based political analyst¹⁷ Stuart Rothenberg.

But political expert Larry Sabato says public concerns about Iraq and high fuel prices may favor the Democrats in November.

"I still think Democrats will gain seats in the House, gain seats in the Senate and gain governorships overall, but they may not gain enough to take control of either the House or the Senate," he said.

Democrats need to win an additional six seats in the 100-member Senate and 15 seats in the 435-member House to retake control of both chambers in the November elections

1 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。

2 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》

3 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

4 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。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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

12 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

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。