VOA常速英语2008年-US Presidential Candidates Compete to Win New Y

By Margaret Besheer
New York
04 February 2008

Among the more than 20 states holding primaries or caucuses¹ on Tuesday, New York and New Jersey², in the northeastern United States have large numbers of delegates the candidates need to win their party nominations⁴. VOA's Margaret Besheer reports from our New York bureau, on what to watch for on Super Tuesday.

Republican and Democratic voters will hit the polls Tuesday in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. But New York and New Jersey, with their 339 Democratic delegates and 153 Republican delegates at stake, are the prime focus of the candidates and political observers.

Maurice Carroll, the director of Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute in Hamden, Connecticut has been tracking the candidates. He says until about a week ago, Democratic Party candidate Senator Hillary Clinton, who represents New York State, was solidly ahead of rival Senator Barack Obama in polls. But he notes that Obama's numbers have been on the rise.

"There is a lot of excitement, a lot of surge, going for Obama, mostly among young people. Can that overcome those [Clinton's] New York and New Jersey leads? [It is] hard to say. Look what happened in Iowa a couple of weeks ago, out of nowhere Obama came out and won the thing," said Carroll.

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain is very strong in the northeast, leading former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁵ Romney and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Columbia University Political Science professor Robert Shapiro predicts McCain could all but win the Republican nomination³ on Super Tuesday.

"It looks as though McCain is poised⁶ to pull away and perhaps wrap things up on February 5. His recent wins have been very impressive," said Shapiro.

McCain's strong position received a boost last week when former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani withdrew from the race and endorsed⁷ the Arizona senator.

For the Republican candidates on the ballot⁸ in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, it is "winner take all", meaning the candidate with the largest percentage of the vote will win all the state's republican delegates. This is likely to be a boost for McCain who is favored in these states.

Voters in the northeast, as elsewhere in the nation, are concerned about the economy, healthcare, education and the war in Iraq. The war on terror is especially on the minds of voters in New York and New Jersey, which were deeply affected⁹ by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Analysts¹⁰ expect near-record turnout for Super Tuesday. Professor Sharyn O'Halloran, also of Columbia University's political science department, says voters are very energized¹¹ because this is the first time a woman and an African American have a real chance at the presidency¹².

"That is the historic thing here that we finally have serious contention¹³ from a woman and an African American in a major political party in the race for the presidency. Either way you go, the 2008 election is going to be a historic election,"  said O'Halloran.

In the northeast on Tuesday, Senator Clinton is expected to do well among women voters and Hispanics, but could lose some of her African American supporters to Senator Obama. Professor Shapiro says other non-white voters in this region could have a significant impact.

"The one interesting thing to watch in this region would be how other non-white voting groups vote - Latinos, Asian- Americans - in this region. Especially if it is close those groups could conceivably be swing voters," added Shapiro.

While excitement is high in this region for the current contenders, there remains¹⁴ one question lingering on the minds of many, especially in New York, and that is whether the city's mayor, billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, will launch a late bid for the presidency as an independent candidate.

"Political history says no, the political landscape says no, the American political system says no, but a billion dollars says yes, he has got a shot," said Maurice Carroll of Quinnipiac University.

Analysts say Bloomberg is likely to get into the race only if he thinks he can win it, not to be a spoiler for one of the other candidates. But until that happens, all eyes are on the current contenders.

1 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

2 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。

3 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。

4 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

7 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 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。

11 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

14 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。