VOA常速英语2008年-Clinton Victories Ensure Democratic Presidentia

By Jim Malone
Washington
05 March 2008

Democrat¹ Hillary Clinton pumped new life into her presidential campaign Tuesday with decisive primary wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Rival Barack Obama continues to lead in the delegate count, but Clinton's victories mean that the battle for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination² will go on for weeks, if not months. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Hillary Clinton told U.S. television networks that her three victories Tuesday back up her claim that experience makes her the stronger Democratic candidate for president.

"Voters are finally focused on who they think would be the best commander in chief and who would be the best president to turn this economy around," said Clinton.

Clinton appeared on NBC's Today program, as did rival Barack Obama.

Obama won only one of the four primary contests on Tuesday, finishing first in Vermont.

Despite Clinton's victories, Obama noted³ that he maintains his lead in delegates and remains⁴ on track to win the party nomination.

"The bottom line is that we are in a very strong position," said Obama. "Senator Clinton barely dented⁵ the delegate count Tuesday. We are going on to Mississippi and Wyoming where we feel confident that we can do well, and this process is ultimately going to be about who has got the most delegates and we think we will be in that position.

Even though Obama remains in the lead in the delegate count, it is unlikely that either Democrat will win enough delegates in the remaining caucuses⁷ and primaries to secure the nomination outright⁸ before the party's national nominating convention in Denver in late August.

That means both candidates will appeal to the roughly 800 super delegates for support. Super delegates are elected officials and party activists⁹ who are invited to the national convention as uncommitted delegates, meaning they can support whomever they want.

Clinton argued on NBC that her attacks on Obama have raised questions about whether he would be the strongest Democrat in a general election campaign against the presumed Republican nominee¹⁰, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

"People are super delegates for a purpose," she said. "They are to exercise independent judgment¹¹ and it is very important that they exercise that judgment based on what they believe will lead to the best nominee."

Political experts say Clinton's late attacks on Obama raising questions about his ability to handle national security issues may have tipped the balance in Clinton's favor in Ohio and Texas.

"There was clear momentum¹² for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries," said Leoni Huddy, an expert on political polling and a consultant¹³ for CBS News. "She won votes from people who had made up their mind in the last week, about 30 percent of all voters. In Texas, 21 percent made up their mind in the last three days, and 61 percent voted for Clinton."

Experts believe that Clinton's victories on Tuesday will keep the Democratic race going indefinitely.

John Fortier, an analyst¹⁴ at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, says a number of uncommitted super delegates who had been leaning toward Obama before Tuesday's results are likely to hold off for now.

"Hillary Clinton is hoping that Tuesday's results will stanch¹⁵ that flow and that she may even be able to get a few pledges herself," he said. If she can do that and she can hold her own and be alive and do well in Pennsylvania in late April that is her chance to climb back into this race. If the super delegates, on the other hand, keep slowly going towards Obama because they think he is the nominee, that is going to make Tuesday's win seem insignificant¹⁶ because the delegate count will go right back to what it was."

Obama seems in a favorable position in the next two contests on the Democratic side, Saturday's caucus⁶ in Wyoming and next Tuesday's primary in Mississippi. But Clinton is favored in the next big state primary when Pennsylvania votes on April 22.

In the Republican race, Senator John McCain's sweep of the four Tuesday primaries clinched¹⁷ his party's nomination.

McCain went to the White House Wednesday where he was formally endorsed¹⁸ by President Bush.

"And there is still an enemy that lurks¹⁹, an enemy that wants to strike us, and this country better have somebody in that Oval Office who understands those stakes, and John McCain understands those stakes," said President Bush.

McCain says he is looking forward to running in the general election campaign no matter who emerges as the Democratic nominee.

"A respectful campaign based on the issues and based on the stark²⁰ differences and vision that we have for the future of America," he said.

McCain will be formally confirmed as the party nominee at the Republican Party's national nominating convention in early September in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 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

8 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

13 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

14 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。

15 stanch   

v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的

参考例句：

• Cuttlebone can be used as a medicine to stanch bleeding.海螵蛸可以入药，用来止血。
• I thought it my duty to help stanch these leaks.我认为帮助堵塞漏洞是我的职责。

16 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

17 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

18 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》

19 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

20 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。