万花筒 2012-11-10&11-13 美国共和党检讨总统竞选失败原因

 Now on the fall out from President Obama's sweeping¹ victory Tuesday. As he returns to the White House and negotiate a new budget deal with the Congress, the Republican Party's trying to figure out what went wrong and what changes they need to make.

Mr. John Kozman, looking at it, John, and John, the source hearing has just begun.

Oh, that's right, Geroge. Because the Republicans blew in a historic opportunity to beat a president who was suffering low approval ratings and high unemployment, instead they suffered huge losses across the board and are now struggling to find a way forward.

In the wake of such a big victory for Democrats², a humbled³ speaker of the House John Beohner, struck a conciliatory tone after keeping control of the House, but losing seats. He signaled a possible willingness to compromise on taxes and extended an olive branch to the president.

"As a president, this is your moment. We are ready to be led, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. Let's rise above the dysfunctions and do the right thing together for our country."

Rush Limba almost seemed at a loss of words when describing the Republican's defeat.

"I went to bed last night thinking we are outnumbered, I went to bed last night thinking we抳e lost the country."

Even as returns were still rolling in, Sarah Palin seems stunned⁴.

"Unfortunately, we know what we will get with four more years of Obama. This really is a catastrophic setback⁵ to our economy. It is a perplexing time for many of us right now."

And high profile races from the top on down, it was a night of Republican concession⁶ speeches.

"I pray that the president would be successful in guiding our nation."

"It's one apparent square box."  

"Things don't always turn out the way you think they are going to."

Now the question is how to bring the party back from political exile. In five out of the last six presidential races, Republicans lost the popular votes. The defeat was especially crushing among the largest voting group - women, as well as the fastest growing voting group Hispanics. 

"I think Republicans have done a pathetic job of reaching out to people of color."

What could be the opening salvo of the 2016 Republican primary?  Some already in conspiracy⁷ are lashing⁸ out at New Jersey⁹ governor Chris Christie for giving the president a boost during his handling of hurricane Sandy. Christie, for his part, said that is nonsense. He insisted that he worked harder with anybody, with a possible exception of Paul Ryan, to try to get Mitt¹⁰ Romney elected.

1 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？

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 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

4 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

5 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

7 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

8 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 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。