Romney Heading for Victory in Washington State Caucuses

 　　Former Massachusetts governor Mitt¹ Romney is heading for big victory in the Washington state Republican caucuses³.

　　With about 60 percent of the vote counted, Romney had about 37 percent support in the straw poll.  Texas Representative Ron Paul and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum are battling for the second place with about 24 percent each, while former House speaker Newt Gingrich is running a distant fourth.

　　The caucus² comes ahead of the so-called "Super Tuesday" voting in 10 states that could determine who will face President Barack Obama, a Democrat⁴, in November's election.

　　In the latest national poll (Gallup), Romney has 35 percent support, while former U.S. senator Rick Santorum has 24 percent.  The other candidates, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Representative Ron Paul, trail with 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

　　At stake in Washington are 40 delegates to the Republican national convention.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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

4 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。