Democrats Fear Nader Could Be 'Spoiler' in 2004

 

Jim Malone

Democratic presidential contender John Kerry met with independent candidate Ralph Nader on Wednesday amid Democratic fears that Mr. Nader could play the role of spoiler in the November election and help re-elect President Bush.
Senator Kerry said he did not ask Ralph Nader to abandon his presidential campaign and Mr. Nader said he was determined¹ to remain an independent candidate in November. Both men said they were committed to defeating President Bush and would keep their lines of communication open.
Mr. Nader talked about his reasons for running for the White House in a recent interview on the public affairs network C-SPAN.
"We have got to open up the system," he said. "The country does not belong to two parties even though the two parties think that they own America. They are not doing very well by America, by the way. They are selling elections, they are selling government, they are selling themselves to the highest commercial bidders³ and have turned our country over to big business domination."
Democrats⁴ fear Mr. Nader could draw just enough votes away from Senator Kerry in November to swing the election to President Bush. In the Bush-Gore⁵ match-up of four years ago, Ralph Nader won less than three percent of the vote nationwide, but his vote totals in Florida and New Hampshire were larger than Mr. Bush's margin⁶ of victory.
In Florida alone, Mr. Nader received more than 97,000 votes. Al Gore lost Florida to George Bush by 537 votes. The Florida result clinched⁷ a Bush victory in the Electoral College.
Political analyst⁸ Norman Ornstein said that Ralph Nader poses a threat to Senator Kerry because he could draw votes from Democrats in November who want to pull out of Iraq immediately, something both the president and Senator Kerry oppose.
"People who believe that you have got to vote for somebody who is against it [war in Iraq] and who wants to pull out immediately have a candidate and that is Nader," he said. "But what Nader also does is provide an electromagnetic gravitational pull for Kerry to the [political] left."
Experts say that pull to the left could be a problem for Senator Kerry as he tries to appeal to centrist voters in the months ahead.
William Schneider is a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "If he is going to run as a unifier⁹, he cannot run a harsh, divisive campaign that rallies the Democratic Party base. Howard Dean tried that and failed. Voters, I would conclude, do not or will not want to replace a president who divides the country from the right with a president who divides the country from the left."
Republicans hope the Nader campaign catches fire and becomes a major distraction¹⁰ for Senator Kerry, but even some of the president's strongest supporters acknowledge that Mr. Bush could have a difficult time in the months ahead trying to convince voters that the administration is on the right track in Iraq.
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum has written a new book called An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror. He was the guest on this week's Press Conference USA.
"If this election is a referendum on Iraq and only on Iraq, that is going to be very hard for the president," he said. "If the election is a referendum on the global war on terror, of which Iraq is a part, I think that will go very well. So, we are going to have an argument not over the war, we are going to have an argument over what are we arguing about? Is Iraq part of the war on terror or not?"
For the moment, public opinion polls indicate the president's approval ratings are at an all-time low and most surveys give Senator Kerry a slight edge if the election were held today.
However, the election is in November and strategists on both sides say it is far too early to say how the volatile¹¹ issue of Iraq will play with American voters six months from now.

注释：
spoiler [5spCilE] n. 破坏者
C-SPAN abbr. Cable and Satellite Public Affairs Network 美国公共事务卫星电视网
even though 即使
bidder² [5bidE] n. 出价人，投标人
electromagnetic [ilektrEu5mA^nitik] adj. 电磁的
gravitational [7^rAvi5teiFEnEl] n. 引力作用
centrist [5sentrist] n. 中立派议员
unifier [5ju:nifaiE] n. 联合者
speechwriter [5spi:tF9raitE(r)] n. 演讲稿撰写人
referendum [7refE5rendEm] n. 公民表决，公民投票
survey [sE:5vei] vt. 调查（收入、民意等）

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

3 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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》

5 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。

6 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。

7 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

8 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。

9 unifier   

联合者，统一者，使一致的人（或物）； 通代

参考例句：

• Herb is the unifier of the people. 喷鼻草是人平易近的融合剂。

10 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

11 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。