VOA常速英语2007-US Presidential Candidates Clinton, Giuliani Get

By Jim Malone
Washington
05 October 2007

The latest public opinion polls on the U.S. presidential race contain good news for Democrat¹ Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

A recent survey by ABC News and the Washington Post shows Senator Clinton leading fellow Democrat Barack Obama by 53 to 20 percent, with former Senator John Edwards in third place at 13 percent.

Clinton's poll numbers have gone up steadily² in recent months, causing a number of leading Democrats³ to conclude she will likely be the party's nominee⁴ for president next year.

Senator Clinton is promising⁵ changes in U.S. foreign policy if she is elected. She made this vow⁶ during a recent campaign appearance in Iowa.

"You know, I will not wait until I am inaugurated," she said. "The day after I am elected, I will ask distinguished⁷ Americans of both parties to travel around the world with a very simple message, the era of cowboy diplomacy⁸ is over. America is back!"

Although Clinton holds a big lead in national polls among Democrats, she still faces tough primary challenges from Obama and Edwards in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Senator Clinton is the frontrunner," said political analyst⁹ Stuart Rothenberg. "Barack Obama is a serious contender. John Edwards has the potential to really raise eyebrows¹⁰ if he can win in Iowa."

Experts also note that early polls are often misleading indicators¹¹ of a candidate's popularity. For example, Democrat John Kerry was way back in the pack just weeks before his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire that propelled him to the party nomination¹² in 2004.

In this election cycle, Hillary Clinton's strength is also a factor in the race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination.

In the same ABC News-Washington Post poll, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads the Republican field with 34 percent support, followed by former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee at 17 percent, Arizona Senator John McCain at 12 percent and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt¹³ Romney at 11 percent.

Giuliani argues that Republicans should pick him as their nominee, because he has the best chance to defeat Clinton in a general election match-up.

"I run the most competitive against Hillary Clinton by a big margin¹⁴," he said. "And I take some Democratic states from her. Nobody else does that."

In the ABC News-Washington Post poll, Clinton leads Giuliani by a margin of 51 to 43 percent.

Although Giuliani continues to lead the Republican field in national polls, Romney has a big lead in Iowa and is tied for the lead in New Hampshire. Early victories in those two states would give the less well-known Romney a big boost in the battle for the Republican nomination.

No matter whom the Republicans nominate, political experts predict the Republican candidate will focus his fire on Hillary Clinton if she does become the Democratic Party nominee.

"A guy I know who I have been dealing¹⁵ with for 25 years says, 'I have seen this happen. The way you energize¹⁶ our party is to walk into a room and say three words, President Hillary Clinton,'" said Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News and a regular guest on VOA's Issues in the News program. "And that is what the Republicans are hoping, that specter of a President Hillary will galvanize the party. We will see, but she is very formidable at the moment."

Giuliani has come under fire in recent days from some religious conservatives in the Republican Party who question his commitment to conservative stands on abortion¹⁷, gay marriage and gun control.

But analyst John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute says that Giuliani's reputation for strong leadership forged in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. is trumping¹⁸ so far the doubts expressed by some conservatives.

"I do think Rudy Giuliani is the frontrunner because of this," he said. "I think he is, against all odds¹⁹, ahead in the national polls and been able to stay there while being pretty open about being pro-choice [pro-abortion rights] and being different on some social issues than Republicans."

Presidential contenders from both parties will intensify²⁰ their campaign and advertising²¹ efforts in the weeks ahead, leading to the first votes in the U.S. presidential election process in early January in Iowa and New Hampshire.

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 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

3 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》

4 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。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 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。

10 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！

17 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

18 trumping   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的现在分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• Reality has a way of trumping art, and human-climate change is very real indeed. 现实总有它的王牌艺术，受人类影响的气候变化的确成了事实。 来自互联网
• This quirky aversion may be a case of psychological security trumping physical comfort. 这种奇怪现象可能是缘于一个心理上的安全感战胜生理上的舒适感的例子。 来自互联网

19 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

20 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

21 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。