VOA常速英语2007-Nobel Spurs Gore Supporters to Urge Presidential

By Jim Malone
Washington
12 October 2007

Former Vice¹ President Al Gore²'s new status as a Nobel Peace Prize winner is encouraging some of his political supporters in the United States to urge him to run for president next year.  But as VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington, most political experts doubt Gore will make a run for the White House in 2008.

Gore told a California news conference he is honored to share the Nobel award with the United Nations panel on climate change.

"I will accept this award on behalf of all of those who have been working so long and so hard to try to get the message out about this planetary emergency," he said.

Gore took no questions at the news conference, leaving open how his newfound status as a Nobel Peace Prize winner might affect his future political plans.

Gore supporters wasted little time in seizing on his Nobel recognition in their continuing bid to urge him to run for president next year.

Monica Friedlander is founder³ of the group DraftGore.com, which has run ads and gathered signatures in a bid to press the former vice president to make a second run for the White House in 2008.

"There is just such a tidal wave of support and excitement about him as the potential candidate," she said.  "It is very, very difficult for him to resist, or at least so I hope."

Gore narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush.

University of Virginia political analyst⁴ Larry Sabato says there is little doubt that Gore's Nobel prize will now inspire his supporters to push even harder for him to enter the presidential race.

"This will juice up the Gore drafters," he said.  "They have been dying to get Gore into the race.  They are very dissatisfied with the prospect⁵ of Hillary Clinton being the nominee⁶.  This may be their last stand."

Gore has said repeatedly he is not planning a run for president next year, though when pressed he refuses to rule out the possibility.

"Well, you know, I am not pondering it, I am not focused on that," he said.  "I am focused on how to solve the climate crisis," he added.

Among those who doubt Gore will join the presidential race is longtime political observer Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News, a guest on this week's Issues in the News program on VOA.

"He keeps saying he has no plans, and usually the 'no plans' language is designed to keep your options open," he said.  "But I suspect he is probably not going to run.  I think he is probably making too much money, getting too much adulation to put himself through the meat grinder again."

If Gore were to change his mind and enter the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination⁷, most analysts⁸ predict it would be an uphill fight.

Recent polls place Gore in third place with about 10 percent support, well behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and roughly tied with John Edwards.

Expert Larry Sabato says a decision to run would put Gore at a clear disadvantage compared to those Democratic contenders who have been running and raising money for months.

"It is very hard to run for president from a standing⁹ stop, and he would have to move to sprinter's position immediately to have any chance of even making all the deadlines to file for the various primaries," he said.

The Nobel Peace Prize is the latest honor for Gore in a year that began with Hollywood honoring his documentary on climate change.

The documentary, An Inconvenient¹⁰ Truth, helped make global warming a top environmental issue in the U.S. and around the world.  Gore accepted the Academy Award for Best Documentary. 

"We need to solve the climate crisis," he said.  "It is not a political issue.  It is a moral issue."

Gore's views on climate change still have plenty of critics, especially congressional Republicans like Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.

"Thousands of meteorologists, climatologists and scientists disagree with you," he said.  "Are they all wrong and you are all right?"

Gore told reporters Friday he hopes the recognition of his work will elevate global consciousness about the challenges of global warming.   Gore described the issue as a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 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。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 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。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

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 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。

10 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？