Bush Popularity Drops to Lowest Level of Presidency

 

Jim Malone

Instability in Iraq and rising gasoline prices at home appear to be cutting into President Bush's popularity. The most recent polls indicate Mr. Bush's approval ratings have fallen to the lowest point of his presidency¹ with less than six months to go until the November election.
The latest worry for the Bush White House is the rapidly rising price of gasoline, which could undermine other more positive indicators² on economic and job growth.
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the president's presumptive Democratic opponent in November, criticized the president during a speech in Oregon Tuesday for not doing more to hold down fuel prices. "Gasoline prices soaring upwards³, highest prices that we have had in this country on average ever, and where is the president? Where is the call for OPEC to start producing," he asked.
The Bush campaign fired back. A spokesman said Senator Kerry's opposition⁴ to the administration's energy strategy contributed to rising gas prices.
As for the president, he emphasized his leadership in the war on terror in a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee here in Washington. "There is only one path to peace and safety. America will use every resource we have to fight and defeat these enemies of freedom," he said.
Bush advisers⁶ and political experts believe the president's strongest hand in the election is the public's perception of him as a strong leader. But that image has suffered in several recent polls including a Gallup poll that shows his overall approval rating at only 46-percent, usually a danger sign for an incumbent⁷ president this close to an election.
Norman Ornstein is a political analyst⁸ at the American Enterprise Institute here in Washington. He said American voters will first focus on the incumbent in November, then the challenger, Senator Kerry. "And when an incumbent is running, it is about the incumbent. Kerry has to pay lip service to have plans, but that is about it," he said. "In the end the judgment⁹ people will make is based on the question, does this guy deserve another four years?"
The latest polls give Senator Kerry a slight lead over President Bush and indicate that the main concern of voters will be the economy and Iraq.
A recent Gallup poll said 54-percent of those surveyed believed the war in Iraq was not worth the cost and 58 percent disapproved¹⁰ of the president's handling of Iraq.
Senator Kerry has been critical of the administration's performance on Iraq but remains¹¹ supportive of the overall goal of transforming Iraq into a democracy, and some experts believe that is a problem for the presumptive Democratic nominee¹².
Ron Walters, a political analyst at the University of Maryland, said "Kerry's problem is that he is not able to draw, at least right now, a distinct difference between his position and that of President Bush. And so, in that environment, President Bush really is the beneficiary. So Kerry, I think, is going to have to do some re-tooling, both from the perspective of his campaign and his message, before he is really able to compete."
Professor Walters says the fear among Democrats¹³ is that anti-war voters will turn away from Senator Kerry in November and will flock instead to independent candidate Ralph Nader, who favors a withdrawal¹⁴ from Iraq within six months.

注释：
instability [7instE5biliti] n.不稳定
popularity [7pCpju5lAriti] n. 名气，名望
gasoline [5^AsEli:n] n. 汽油
presumptive [pri5zQmptiv] adj. 推测的
Israel [5izreiEl] n. 以色列
adviser⁵ [Ad5vaizE] n. 顾问
incumbent [in5kQmbEnt] adj. 现任的
supportive [sE5pC:tiv] adj. 支持的
distinct [dis5tiNkt] adj. 明显的
beneficiary [beni5fiFEri] n. 受益人

1 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。

2 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

3 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 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。

8 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。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 disapproved   

v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

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 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》

14 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。