Romney, Santorum Head for Super Tuesday Showdown

 　　Tuesday looms¹ as an important day in U.S. presidential politics with 10 states holding presidential primary or caucus² votes with a total of 419 Republican delegates at stake.  The so-called Super Tuesday voting could determine whether former Massachusetts governor Mitt³ Romney takes a major step toward securing the Republican Party’s presidential nomination⁴ or if the battle will go on indefinitely.

　　U.S. states participating in Super Tuesday primaries include Vermont , Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Alaska, Massachusetts, Georgia and Idaho

　　Four contenders remain in the Republican nomination race but Tuesday shapes up as a major showdown between Mitt Romney and his main rival, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

　　Romney expects to rack up wins in Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia while Santorum looks for victories in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

　　Texas Governor Rick Perry has held the top leadership position in one of the largest U.S. states since George W. Bush left the post to assume the U.S. presidency⁵ in 2000.

　　He pledges to reduce the size of the federal government. Perry's plan includes eliminating some federal agencies, such as the Departments of Commerce, Education, and Energy.

　　Perry is campaigning on economic policy, holding up his record in Texas as an example of how he could improve the national economy. He has been an outspoken⁶ opponent of the Obama administration's health care reform plan. He is a conservative Christian⁷ and has signed several state laws making it more difficult for a woman to obtain an abortion⁸. He also supports the death penalty.

　　In 1988 he supported the unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore⁹. Perry switched his affiliation¹⁰ to the Republican Party a year later.

　　Both men are campaigning hard for the major prize on Tuesday, the Midwest state of Ohio where polls show a close race.

　　Romney continues to get endorsements¹¹ from Republican Party leaders and hopes to take secure grasp of the nomination race with a strong showing on Tuesday.

　　“A lot of Republicans are saying, you know what, we want to take back the White House,” said Romney. "We want the guy who really understands the economy and that is our best shot at getting Barack Obama out of the White House."

　　U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum speaks at a campaign rally at Dayton Christian School in Miamisburg, Ohio, March 5, 2012

　　Santorum continues to target conservative voters who remain skeptical¹² of Romney’s commitment to conservative causes.

　　“We need a clear contrast in this election.  We need someone who will go out and paint a vision for where America can go where everybody in America will have an opportunity in the economy,” said Santorum.

　　Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich looks to revitalize his campaign with a victory in his home state of Georgia.

　　Gingrich told ABC’s This Week that a resurgence¹³ of his campaign in southern states would raise fresh doubts about Romney’s ability to win the Republican nomination. “He is the front-runner without any question. But I think he’s not a very convincing front-runner and he is a long way from having closed out this race,” Gingrich said.

　　Texas Congressman¹⁴ Ron Paul hopes to do well in the three smaller states holding caucus votes on Tuesday - Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota.

　　Paul continues to promise a sharp cutback in U.S. foreign aid and overseas military commitments if he is elected. He said, “We should come together as Republicans and Democrats¹⁵, independents, liberals and conservatives and say 'Cut the spending overseas and stop these wars that make no sense!'"

　　A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination and so far Romney has won 180 while Santorum has half that number.

　　The schedule of state primary and caucus votes extends into June and the Republicans will formally choose a nominee at their national convention in August in Tampa, Florida

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

4 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。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

9 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。

10 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

11 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

12 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

13 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

14 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。

15 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》