2006年VOA标准英语-Iowa Governor Becomes First To Launch US Presid

By Jim Malone
Washington
30 November 2006

Iowa's Democratic governor, Tom Vilsack, officially became the first presidential candidate for 2008 on Thursday.  Several other potential candidates have either taken themselves out of the running for the White House two years from now or will announce their intentions soon.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Tom Vilsack is completing his second term as Iowa's governor and though little known nationally, he has launched an underdog bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹ in 2008.

Tom Vilsack formally announces his candidacy for Democratic presidential nomination during a rally, 30 Nov 2006

"Our country today needs a president who will lead bold change and has the courage of his convictions and I intend to be that president," he said.

Vilsack does not have the name recognition of other top Democrats² who may contend for the nomination, including Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

Vilsack told a crowd in his home state that he would focus his campaign on improving education and health care and cutting back on America's dependence³ on imports of foreign oil.

"Our national security has been compromised and put at risk by a national government that is fiscally⁴ irresponsible and by a country that has grown far too dependent on oil, foreign oil from foreign countries, some of which despise us, harbor terrorists, but gladly take our money," he added.

Political experts view Tom Vilsack as a long shot in what could become a very crowded field of presidential candidates from both parties.

Dotty Lynch is a political analyst⁵ at CBS News.  She says Vilsack is trying to follow in the footsteps of other state governors who have run for president in recent years.

"Governor Vilsack is not exactly a household name right now," she noted⁶.  "But he feels that in the tradition of people like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, who started with very low recognition, he is a governor and that has worked well in the past few years."

Vilsack's announcement is the first official declaration of candidacy for the 2008 election.  But several other potential contenders have already taken steps to run, including Senator Joe Biden of Delaware on the Democratic side and Senator John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the Republican side.

Other potential candidates have already taken themselves out of the 2008 race, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Republican Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee and Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

For the first time since 1952, neither party will field either a sitting president or vice⁷ president as contenders for the White House.

The polls suggest Hillary Clinton may be the strongest candidate in the Democratic presidential field and that John McCain is leading the pack on the Republican side.

But University of Virginia expert Larry Sabato says both parties can expect wide-open nomination battles when the process begins early in 2008.

"And as a result, it is an open race on both sides and we are going to see large fields [of candidates]," he noted.  "Those fields are not as coalesced⁸ as some commentators⁹ have suggested and the so-called frontrunners may find that their position is shakier than they ever imagined."

Governor Vilsack may have one slight advantage over his rivals.  His home state of Iowa begins the presidential nominating process with its party caucuses¹⁰ in January of 2008.

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 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》

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。

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 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 coalesced   

v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The views of party leaders coalesced to form a coherent policy. 党的领导人的各种观点已统一为一致的政策。 来自辞典例句

9 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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