Bush, Kerry Face Many Challenges to Win Over California Vote

 

Mike O'Sullivan

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has all but secured his party's nomination², with wins in nine out of 10 states that held contests Tuesday. One of his victories came in California, the most populous³ U.S. state and the biggest prize in the U.S. presidential election. President Bush and Senator Kerry will search for strategies to attract the vote in such key regions, while appealing to a national audience.
With the news that North Carolina Senator John Edwards planned to quit the race Wednesday, Senator Kerry savored⁵ his victory Tuesday evening. "Tonight the message could not be clearer all across our country: Change is coming to America," he said.
One change that Mr. Kerry wants is a Democrat¹ in the White House. It's a change that President Bush hopes to prevent. Mr. Bush's supporters unveiled a television and this week promoting the president's record. It says: "President Bush: Steady leadership in times of change."
Both men must maneuver⁶ an obstacle course between now and the election in November. As they travel the country campaigning, they must tailor their message regionally, addressing job loss in Ohio, which has seen much of its manufacturing move to developing countries. But candidates must promote trade in coastal⁷ states like California. What appeals to voters in one place may offend the voters in others.
Republican strategist Dan Schnur recalls Howard Dean's emotional speech to supporters in Iowa, and how it was viewed outside Iowa. Some who watched on television thought his excitement was excessive.
"As Howard Dean will tell you after his experience the night of the Iowa caucuses⁹, you can't focus solely¹⁰ on the audience in the room because oftentimes there is a national or even international audience that is listening just as carefully," said Mr. Schnur.
A candidate may be criticized for style, and even more so for the substance of his or her positions.
Mr. Schnur believes same-sex marriage could become a disastrous¹¹ issue for Democrats¹². Last month, San Francisco officials began to issue marriage licenses¹⁴ to gay and lesbian couples. Democrats tend to be more liberal on the issue than Republicans, and Democratic politicians try not to offend their liberal base while reaching out to voters in the political center.
President Bush has endorsed¹⁶ a proposal to amend¹⁷ the U.S. constitution, restricting marriage to a man and woman. That pleases some conservatives, but upsets others who think he is overreacting to the issue. Senator Kerry has already accused Mr. Bush of using the Constitution to divide the country.
Analyst¹⁸ Sherry Bebitch Jeffe sees a wild card in the election: the independent voters who are a growing minority in states like California. Democrats have an edge in the state, with 43 percent of registered voters to 36 percent of voters who are Republican. But the 16 percent who belong to no political party can potentially sway an election one way or another.
Ms. Jeffe says California independents are hard to classify. They are fiscally¹⁹ conservative, but liberal on social issues.
"So candidates cannot be big spenders, big taxers, but voters will allow taxation²⁰ for programs that they care about, that they can oversee," she said. "So I think most candidates cannot be of the extremes to appeal to the middle of the voting electorate²¹."
These analysts²² say diverse groups of voters respond to different issues, and that candidates run the risk of offending some as they appeal to others. They add that political rivals are always ready to highlight any misstep.

注释：
nomination [nCmi5neiFEn] n. 提名(为候选人)
strategy [5strAtidVi] n. 策略，计谋
senator [5senEtE] n. 参议员
savor⁴ [5seivE] vi. 品味
maneuver [mE5nu:vE] v. 操纵
obstacle [5CbstEkl] n. 障碍
tailor [5teilE] v. 为某一特定目的或目标而制做、修改或调整
regionally [5ri:dVEnEli] adv. 地方的,
coastal [5kEustl] adj. 沿海的
caucus⁸ [5kC:kEs] n. [美]（政党选举候选人或决定政策的）预备会议
disastrous [di5zB:strEs] adj. 极坏的，很糟的
license¹³ [5laisEns] n. 证书
lesbian [5lezbiEn] n. 女性同性恋者
endorse¹⁵ [in5dC:s] v. 签署
amend [E5mend] v. 修正
fiscally [5fiskEli] adv. [美] 财政的
rival [5raivEl] n. 竞争者
misstep [5mis5step] n. 失策，错误

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 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。

3 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

4 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。

5 savored   

v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝

参考例句：

• We savored the barbed hits in his reply. 我们很欣赏他在回答中使用的带刺的俏皮话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We savored, (the pleasures of) mountain life to the full. 我们充分体会了山居生活的乐趣。 来自辞典例句

6 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 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。

9 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

10 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

11 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

12 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》

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

15 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

16 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

18 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。

19 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。

20 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

21 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

22 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。