VOA常速英语2007年-US Presidential Campaign Intensifies as Primary

By Jim Malone
Washington
27 November 2007

Campaign attacks are intensifying¹ among the Democratic and Republican presidential contenders as the first test in the 2008 U.S. election season draws near in early January. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

The process that selects the party nominees³ for president begins January 3 in Iowa and the nomination⁴ battles in both parties are heating up.

On the Democratic side, there is a three-way fight in Iowa among Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

The three contenders are stepping up their criticisms of each other as the voting draws near.

This is Edwards during a campaign event in New Hampshire, which holds its primary five days after the Iowa caucuses⁵.

"Hell yeah, I am confrontational⁶. And I am not ashamed of it. We need a fighter in the White House," he said.

Hillary Clinton told CBS News that she is willing to fire back at her Democratic rivals.

"But after you have been attacked as often as I have from several of my opponents, you cannot just absorb it. You have to respond," she said.

Clinton leads Democrats⁷ in the national polls, but Obama led in the latest Iowa survey and the race remains⁸ close in other early contest states, including New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Longtime political reporter Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says a Clinton defeat early in the primaries could make the Democratic race much more competitive.

DeFrank was a guest on VOA's Issues in the News program.

"It would give her opponents openings to resurrect and resurface all the things that the Clinton haters [focus on] and even Democrats who admire her but fear that she is not electable, that would just bring all of that back to the fore," he said.

There is plenty of tough campaigning in the battle for the Republican Party's presidential nomination as well.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads the Republican field in national public opinion polls. But former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁹ Romney continues to do well in the early contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The attacks between the two are growing more intense. Romney recently went after Giuliani's economic record as mayor of New York City.

"When he left, he left a budget gap twice as big as the one he inherited," he said.

Giuliani fired back and criticized Romney's crime-fighting record in Massachusetts.

"Everything he attacks somebody else for, he usually has a much worse record," he said.

The wrangling¹⁰ between Romney and Giuliani could provide an opening for some of the other Republican contenders looking to gain traction¹¹ in the early primary states. They include Arizona Senator John McCain, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and former Senator Fred Thompson, of Tennessee.

University of Virginia political analyst¹² Larry Sabato says one thing the Republican contenders agree on is a desire to be tough on Hillary Clinton if she emerges as the Democratic Party nominee².

"Most Republicans find the prospect¹³ of a Hillary Clinton presidency¹⁴ to be repugnant, and as such, they are even willing in many case to support a liberal on social issues for the nomination, specifically Rudy Giuliani, if that is what it takes to beat Hillary Clinton," said Sabato, who was a recent guest on VOA's Talk to America webchat.

A recent Zogby poll suggested Clinton is losing ground to the Republicans. The latest survey showed Clinton trailing the five major Republican contenders in head-to-head match-ups. 

Iowa and New Hampshire kick off a compressed primary schedule in early January that will hit a peak on February 5 when more than 20 states hold primaries or caucuses.

1 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

2 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。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

6 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

7 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》

8 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。

9 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

10 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

11 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。