VOA标准英语2008年-Primary Results Move Obama Closer to Democratic

By Jim Malone
Washington
07 May 2008

Illinois Senator Barack Obama took a giant step toward securing the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹ Tuesday with a decisive win in the North Carolina primary and a close second place finish in Indiana.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports that pressure is expected to mount on rival Hillary Clinton in the days to come to abandon her presidential campaign and rally behind Obama as the eventual² Democratic nominee³.

Barack Obama reasserted political momentum⁴ with his victory in North Carolina, and Hillary Clinton now appears to be running out of time and money in her bid to stop his march to the Democratic nomination.

In his victory speech, Obama focused less on Clinton and more on what kind of campaign he would run against the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.

"We are the party of [Thomas] Jefferson and [Andrew] Jackson, of [Franklin] Roosevelt and [John] Kennedy, and that we are at our best when we lead with principle, when we lead with conviction, when we summon an entire nation to a common purpose and a higher purpose," he said.

Clinton vowed⁶ to compete in upcoming primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky and made another appeal for money for her campaign, which she has been funding recently out of her own pocket.

But Clinton also repeated her vow⁵ that she will support Obama if he becomes the Democratic nominee.

"No matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party, because we must win in November!"

Obama added to his lead in the delegate count and total popular vote on Tuesday.  And even though Clinton has vowed to fight on, most experts see little chance for her to win the Democratic nomination at this late stage in the primary process.

Larry Sabato directs the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"The race is approaching its logical conclusion and barring some massive development that no one foresees, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for president," he explained.

Clinton's only remaining hope is to convince enough uncommitted superdelegates that she would be a stronger nominee against Republican John McCain in November.

Superdelegates are Democratic officeholders and party activists⁷ who can support any candidate they want regardless of caucus⁸ and primary results in their states.

About 500 of the nearly 800 superdelegates have already declared their support for one of the two candidates, and the rest remain uncommitted.  Neither candidate can win enough delegates in the remaining primaries to claim the nomination outright⁹, so superdelegates will provide the margin¹⁰ of victory for the eventual nominee.

Many experts now expect more superdelegates will flock to Obama in the wake of Tuesday's primaries.

Bill Beaman is editor in chief of Politics magazine, formerly¹¹ known as Campaign and Elections.

Beaman says most superdelegates would be reluctant to deny Obama the nomination given that he is on track to win more delegates and popular votes than Clinton.

"You have to remember that most superdelegates are elected officials," he explaine.d  "They have constituencies they need to worry about, and some 20 to 25 percent of the Democratic base is the African-American vote.  What it would do to African-American support, in my view, to take the nomination at this stage from Barack Obama is something that superdelegates would not even want to venture to find out."

Beaman and other experts predict Democrats¹² will unite behind Obama once the primaries draw to a close in early June.

Despite Obama's strong showings in both North Carolina and Indiana Tuesday, voter exit surveys suggest he will have to do a better job of appealing to working class white voters if he is to defeat John McCain in November.

Once again, expert Larry Sabato.

"There are a number of pitfalls¹³ along the way, not least his demonstrated lack of appeal to downscale whites and conservative Democrats, and he is going to have to work hard to solve those problems before he can win a general election," he noted¹⁴.

Also of concern to Obama is the fact that about half the voters in both North Carolina and Indiana said the controversy¹⁵ involving his former pastor¹⁶, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was an important issue in their vote.

Six more Democratic contests remain before the primary season ends on June 3.  The Democrats hold their national nominating convention in late August, while the Republicans convene¹⁷ theirs the first week in September.

1 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。

2 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

3 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。

4 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。

5 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 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》

8 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。

9 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。

10 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

11 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

12 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》

13 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

14 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。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

17 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。