2006年VOA标准英语-Democrats Upbeat After Election

By Jim Malone
Washington
14 November 2006

The two major U.S. political parties appear headed in different directions in the wake of last week's congressional midterm elections.  Democrats¹ are preparing to take the reins² of power in Congress in January while Republicans are trying to figure out what went wrong.

 
Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi 
Voter exit surveys and political experts say Democrats took power in large part because the public became disenchanted with the war in Iraq and disapproved³ of President Bush's job performance.

This is independent political analyst⁴ Charles Cook.

"Midterm elections are about punishing," said Mr. Cook.  "They are driven by anger.  Anger and/or fear.  And if Democrats see this as a mandate⁵, I think they are crazy.  If they see this as an opportunity, then I think they are smart because nobody voted for Democrats, they voted against Republicans."

Voter exit polls indicate Iraq and congressional scandals played a big role in Democratic gains among independent and moderate voters who had been more supportive of President Bush and the Republicans in the past two elections.

Chuck Todd is the editor of the Hotline political newsletter.  He spoke⁶ at an election roundtable sponsored by the American Association of Retired⁷ Persons in Washington.

"This is the election that is the revenge of the independents," said Mr. Todd.  "And it goes to, I think, what Democrats need to be careful of, which is independents showed up and fired the Republicans.  You know, that is all that happened.  They did not hire the Democrats, they fired the Republicans."

As Democrats look forward to taking over both the Senate and House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, Republicans are reflecting on how they can do better next time.

Former Republican Congressman⁸ Dick Armey says the party will have to reach out to conservative voters who became disillusioned⁹ with the spending habits of the Republican-led Congress.

"These guys got off track sometime ago," he said.  "They have a mounting constituency of disappointed Republican supporters across the country, disappointed for a variety of reasons."

President Bush has appointed Senator Mel Martinez of Florida to become the new head of the Republican Party with the hope of winning back congressional seats and keeping the presidency¹⁰ in 2008.

"One of the things I made clear as I discussed this job role with the president is that I was not going to be a [political] attack dog and I do not intend to and I was not asked to be one," said Senator Martinez.  "I think that a tone of civility [is required] as we discuss our differences and as we challenge each other with big ideas about what the future of this nation ought to be."

Some Republican political strategists remain upbeat about their party's future prospects¹¹ despite what even President Bush described as a thumping¹² at the hands of Democrats on November 7.

Republican pollster Ed Goeas says so many House and Senate races were decided¹³ by close margins¹⁴ that a shift of several thousand votes meant the difference between keeping control of Congress and losing it to the Democrats.

"And so you end up with basically [a deficit¹⁵ of] 50,000 votes, not that it does not mean we still have lost control [of Congress], but 50,000 votes spread the right places nationwide would have meant the difference between losing control and keeping control."

As for the Democrats, they are eager to take power when the new Congress is installed in January.

California Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi is slated¹⁶ to become the first woman Speaker of the House.

 
President Bush and Nancy Pelosi shake hands at the White House
"We have made history, now we have to make progress and I look forward to working with the president to do just that," she said.

One of the keys to the success of Democrats in this year's election was nominating moderate House and Senate candidates in more conservative areas of the country.

Richard Wollfe is White House correspondent for Newsweek magazine.  He appeared on VOA's Issues in the News program.

"This is not a revolutionary agenda that the Democrats are trying to enact¹⁷ here," he said.  "They wanted power, above all things, and they are prepared to take a pretty broad view of who should be in the party and who should be a candidate for them to get to power."

Democrats are encouraged about building on their success this year and broadening their appeal for the 2008 presidential election.

Mike McCurry is a former press secretary for President Bill Clinton.

"It primarily has to do with the strengthening of our base in the northeast and the industrial Midwest, it has a lot to do with the utter collapse¹⁸ of the Republican Party in Ohio, which has very significant implications for 2008," he said.  "And it has a lot to do with these Democratic governors in places like New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon and Colorado, places where we are going to be able to compete and reshape the electoral map."

A new public opinion poll found that 61 percent of those surveyed want Democrats to have more influence than President Bush on the direction of the country.

The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll also found that Democrats had a favorability rating of 57 percent, their highest rating since early in 2004.

On the other hand, President Bush's job approval rating was at 33 percent, and only 35 percent of those asked had a favorable view of the Republican Party.

1 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》

2 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

3 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》

4 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。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 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。

9 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

10 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。

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

12 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

15 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

16 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

17 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。