2007年VOA标准英语-Iraq Dominates US Presidential Campaign

By Jim Malone
Washington
27 April 2007

The war in Iraq continues to be the focus of debate in the early stage of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.  VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Iraq remains¹ the top issue among both Democratic and Republican presidential contenders.

Discussion of the war dominated the first debate, held in South Carolina, among the eight announced Democratic presidential contenders. 

The Democratic candidates are united in opposition² to the war, but they differ over how and when U.S. forces should withdraw from Iraq.

Barack Obama, left, talks with Hillary Rodham Clinton prior to the start of the Democratic presidential primary debate of the 2008 election

Illinois Senator Barack Obama is among those who favor a rapid pullout of U.S. troops.

"When I listen to mothers and fathers all across the country, they are telling me it is time for us to come home," he said.

Obama is running second in the polls among Democratic contenders to New York Senator Hillary Clinton.  During the debate, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards challenged Clinton about her initial support for the war.

EDWARDS:  "Senator Clinton and anyone else who voted for this war has to search themselves and decide whether they believe they voted the right way."

CLINTON:  "I have said many times that if I knew then what I now know, I would not have voted that way."

Most of the ten announced Republican presidential hopefuls support the war in Iraq.  The only major exception is Texas Congressman³ Ron Paul, who opposed the war from the start.

But several Republican candidates have criticized President Bush's handling of the war, especially in the beginning.

Arizona Senator John McCain has become one of the most vocal⁴ supporters of the U.S. military's troop surge strategy to help quell⁵ sectarian violence in Iraq.

But even McCain was critical of the Bush administration's record on Iraq during a speech in New Hampshire where he officially announced his candidacy for the Republican Party's presidential nomination⁶.

"My friends, we all know that the war in Iraq has not gone well," said Mr. McCain.  "We have made mistakes and we paid grievously for them.  We changed the strategy that failed us and we have begun to make a little progress."

McCain trails former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the polls among Republican contenders.

Recent surveys put former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson in third place in the Republican field, even though Thompson has not yet decided⁷ whether to enter the race.

Thompson did well in a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

Peter Brown is with Quinnipiac's polling institute.

"He [Thompson] is within roughly ten points of the Democratic leaders when matched up against them," he said.  "That is not bad for a guy who has not run for office in a long time, who is not even a candidate yet."

The poll was conducted in the states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, three closely contested battleground states in U.S. presidential elections.

On the Democratic side, former Vice⁸ President Al Gore⁹ made a good showing in the Quinnipiac poll, perhaps in part, because of his award-winning movie about global warming.

Once again, pollster Peter Brown.

"The real surprise of this data may well be former Vice President Al Gore," he noted¹⁰.  "We matched him against the leading Republicans and he did better overall than any of the other Democratic contenders.  For somebody not running for president, his numbers are pretty impressive."

Gore has so far indicated he will not be a candidate next year, even though some of his supporters believe he might be persuaded to enter the race if some of the major Democratic contenders begin to stumble.

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 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 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。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

6 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。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 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。

9 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。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。