Presidential Campaign 2004 Plays Out on Capitol Hill

Dan Robinson

With Senator John Kerry having effectively secured the Democratic Party nomination¹ for president, Democrats² in Congress say they will coordinate³ closely with him in the months leading to the November election. The contest between Mr. Kerry and President Bush has already spilled over into the House of Representatives, with Republicans and Democrats trading charges on key campaign issues.
This week, in coordination⁴ with the start of a series of television ads for President Bush, Republicans in the House of Representatives began to fire their own salvos at Senator Kerry.
With Democrats still assailing⁵ President Bush on a broad range of economic issues, the House Republican leadership took aim at Mr. Kerry's budget proposals, expressed in campaign speeches.
Accusing Mr. Kerry of "backward thinking," Republicans said his policies would lead to increased taxes and even more government spending than has occurred under Mr. Bush.
The question of government spending is a sensitive one, with some conservative members of the president's own party upset with the rate of spending and expansion of government under Mr. Bush.
Republicans rebutted⁷ in considerable detail some Kerry statements. Recently, they criticized his claim that the Bush administration is to blame for a downturn in employment in the manufacturing sector⁸, saying the decline actually began under President Clinton.
On the question of jobs, Republicans have tried to return to the offensive against Democratic charges Republican policies have led to the biggest employment losses in decades.
In one hearing, Republican Congressman⁹ Bill Thomas responded to Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee who criticized the administration record on jobs. "All of us believe that every American who wants a job should have a job. and we are going to do everything within our power to make sure that that situation occurs," he said. "Although it has never occurred in human history, we are going to strive to do it under the current Bush administration, and certainly in the second Bush administration."
Democrats, meanwhile have fired back, releasing a number of reports detailing what they say are Bush failures on the economy and job creation, education, the environment, and homeland security.
In a report timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats issued an extensive report detailing what they say are administration failures to provide enough resources to help prevent another major terrorist attack. Here is Democratic Congressman Jim Turner, "There has still been no assessment¹⁰ of what our first responders need to protect our communities, and no commitment to make sure that our first responders have the tools they must have to do the job."
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, said she expects to be working closely with Mr. Kerry in coming months to coordinate as Democrats drive to regain¹¹ the White House and win back control of Congress. "I am indeed very happy that we now have a nominee¹² of the Democratic Party," she said. "Democrats are very excited to work with our nominee to grow the economy, to create jobs, to expand access to quality health care, to have the best possible education for our children, to protect our environment, and to keep America safe and secure."
Mrs. Pelosi said the aim is to have what she calls "fusion¹³" in the Democratic Party message as the election draws closer. She added, however, that there has been no discussion as yet with Senator Kerry on how he can help individual Democratic incumbents¹⁵ in the House, or candidates challenging Republicans, in the course of his campaign.

注释：
coordinate [kEu5C:dinit] v. 互相配合
House of Representative 众议院议员
salvo [5sAlvEu] n.（礼炮）齐鸣
assail [E5seil] vt. 攻击
sensitive [5sensitiv] adj. 敏感的
expansion [iks5pAnFEn] adj. 膨胀的
rebut⁶ [ri5bQt] v. 驳斥
offensive [E5fensiv] n. 进攻
occur [E5kE:] vi. 发生
coincide with与.……相符
fusion [5fju:VEn] n. 联合
incumbent¹⁴ [in5kQmbEnt] n.（从政的）在职者

1 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。

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 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

4 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

5 assailing   

v.攻击( assail的现在分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对

参考例句：

• Last-minute doubts were assailing her. 最后一分钟中的犹豫涌上心头。 来自辞典例句
• The pressing darkness increased the tension in every student's heart, assailing them with a nameless fear. 黑暗压下来，使每个人的心情变得更紧张。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

6 rebut   

v.辩驳，驳回

参考例句：

• He attempted to rebut the assertions made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳控方证人所作的断言。
• This open letter is to rebut the argument of abstractionism.这封公开信是反驳抽象派论点的。

7 rebutted   

v.反驳，驳回( rebut的过去式和过去分词 )；击退

参考例句：

• Has Mr. Chiang or any member of his party ever rebutted this? 蒋先生及其党人曾经对这话提出过任何驳斥吗？ 来自互联网
• He rebutted the argument of the other team in a debate. 他在辩论会中反驳对方的论点。 来自互联网

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 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。

10 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

11 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

12 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

13 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

14 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

15 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。