美国国家公共电台 NPR Cory Booker Makes It Official: He's Running For President In 2020

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Senator Cory Booker is the latest Democrat¹ to make it official.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "TOGETHER, AMERICA, WE WILL RISE")

CORY BOOKER: Together we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. Together, America, we will rise. I'm Cory Booker, and I'm running for president of the United States of America.

MARTIN: The New Jersey² senator made a name for himself as the mayor of Newark. He is the fourth senator to run for the Democratic nomination³, and he probably will not be the last. That's a safe bet. NPR's Scott Detrow is covering the growing 2020 presidential campaign and joins us in the studio. Good morning, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁴: Good morning.

MARTIN: We had expected this. Cory Booker had been hinting not-so-subtly that he was interested in a presidential run. What is his message out of the gate as he launches?

DETROW: You know, so far, candidates like Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, two other senators running, are framing themselves as fighters, people who will stand up to Donald Trump⁵. Booker is taking a different tact⁶. That's been a big part of his political career. He certainly can be confrontational⁷. Anyone who saw him in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation⁸ hearing saw that. But Booker has long stuck to big, sweeping⁹ themes like unity¹⁰, common purpose, a sunny, positive approach most of the time. He seems to be making a bet to the pendulum¹¹ theory of politics here that after years of President Trump being divisive and focused on the base, that Americans would be interested in the opposite approach.

MARTIN: So what are some of the challenges that he's going to face?

DETROW: Well, first of all, you mentioned it's a big field that's going to keep getting bigger. Booker has been a high-profile Democrat for years. He was on Hillary Clinton's shortlist for vice¹² president. For a long time, there's been a flip¹³ side to Booker's high media profile. There's been a lot of progressive skepticism of Booker, especially as the party has gotten more populist. He's from New Jersey, and therefore, he's had close relationships with big industries in that area - Wall Street, the pharmaceutical¹⁴ industry.

MARTIN: Right.

DETROW: That's something that comes up a lot from his critics. Booker has sponsored bills to legalize drug imports from Canada in recent years, among other steps, but that's something that that always comes up from the critics.

MARTIN: As we note, he's going to have to distinguish himself because there are a lot of folks who have also thrown their hat in the ring - a lot of his Senate colleagues. How does he do that in such a large field?

DETROW: It's a great question. For a long time, Booker has distinguished¹⁵ himself on social media. Before President Trump made Twitter central to his political identity, Booker did - of course, in a very different way. You may remember back when he was mayor of Newark - you know, responding to requests from constituents¹⁶, like, hey, can you come shovel¹⁷ my driveway? And he'd show up and do it and post about it on Twitter.

MARTIN: Right.

DETROW: He's kept that up in the Senate. I'm curious to see how that translates to a national campaign. He's carved out a very progressive space in the Senate, pushing for marijuana legalization, criminal justice reform. He played a big role in the law signed a couple months ago - guaranteed jobs plan. But of course, most of the candidates running have very progressive stances. Booker's entrance highlights what a large field it is, but also how diverse this field is. Of the four U.S. senators running, you have three women and one African-American man. None of the four U.S. senators running are white men at this point, and that is certainly very different from centuries of American presidential politics.

MARTIN: Right. So speaking of that - Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders. When are we going to hear from them?

DETROW: That is the big question. You mentioned that we expected Booker to enter the race - same with a lot of the other candidates who entered. Biden - there's a big question of whether or not he's going to do it, and Bernie Sanders, increasingly, as well. There are questions of, does he run again, or does he sit - play a kind of a kingmaker role now that so much of the party has been molded in his policy image?

MARTIN: All right. NPR's Scott Detrow. Thanks so much. We appreciate it, Scott.

DETROW: Thank you.

1 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。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 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。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

7 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

11 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

12 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。

13 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

14 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

15 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

16 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。