VOA标准英语2011--US Presidential Candidates Struggle Ahead of Iowa Caucus

US Presidential Candidates Struggle Ahead of Iowa Caucus¹

The United States elects its president in just a little more than 11 months. But before the general election, the Republican party must first select a nominee², who will run against current President Barack Obama. The now-ongoing Republican race has some interesting twists, it includes a candidate who failed to get on the ballot³ in the state where he lives and a libertarian who is under fire for allegedly writing discriminatory remarks.

Republican candidates are all smiles when they come to the Midwest. The Iowa caucuses⁴, their first presidential test, is Tuesday, January 3.

The Iowa Republican party lists nine caucus candidates, but political analyst⁵ Matthew Dowd narrows it to three. "I think this race right now, unless somebody changes the dynamic in Iowa, is a race between Ron Paul, Mitt⁶ Romney and Newt Gingrich, all of whom have tremendous [drawbacks in their background], and all of whom a majority of Republicans have worries about," he said.

Gingrich has worries of his own, he did not submit the required number of qualified⁷ signatures to get on the primary ballot in Virginia. That's the state where he lives. Virginia, the nation's 12th largest state, is seen as an important "swing state" where neither party dominates, making it crucial in the general election in November.

Democratic political analyst James Carville said, "He's not on the ballot in Virginia, which in a close race, could actually mean something. Secondly⁸, it's probably indicative of something else that they weren't prepared for this, they weren't able to do this."

But the Gingrich campaign has been quick to focus on Congressman⁹ Ron Paul's recent issues. Paul published newsletters in the 1980s and 90s that contained racist¹⁰, anti-Semitic and anti-gay material. "These things are really nasty," said Gingrich. "And he didn't know about it? Wasn't aware about it and he's sufficiently¹¹ ready to be president?"

Paul disavows the newsletters, saying he did not write them. But a YouTube video from 1995 shows a different stance. "It's called the Ron Paul survival report and I put that out on a monthly basis," he said in the video.

Still, Congressman Paul has passionate¹² supporters who like his no-frills authenticity¹³. Important in Iowa where slightly more than 100,000 people will vote.

The third top-tier candidate is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who has campaigned less in Iowa than some others. "The experience of balancing budgets is desperately¹⁴ needed in Washington and I will take it there," he said.

Romney touts¹⁵ his economic expertise¹⁶ in this new TV ad. But some staunch Republicans complain he's not conservative enough on other issues.

The good news for all three candidates is that Iowans have not chosen a clear favorite yet. The bad news is they have less than a week to become that favorite.

1 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。

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 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。

4 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

5 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。

6 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。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

9 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。

10 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

11 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

12 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

13 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

14 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

15 touts   

n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• Many vouchers are returned for cash, allowing touts and middle men to make a healthy margin. 许多月饼券都被兑换成现金，这让券贩子和中间商赚取了不蜚的利润。 来自互联网
• Spotting prey, the customary crowd of hustlers and touts swarmed around, jostling for my business. 照例有大群的拉客黄牛在寻觅猎物，他们争相过来抢我的生意。 来自互联网

16 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。