VOA常速英语2007年-Republican Presidential Contender Huckabee Maki

By Jim Malone
Washington
21 November 2007

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is showing some strength as a Republican presidential contender in the early contest state of Iowa.  Huckabee is not as well known nationally as some of the other Republican contenders, but he hopes a good showing in Iowa will boost his presidential prospects¹.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

The latest Washington Post ABC News poll shows Huckabee moving up fast in Iowa, which holds the first presidential caucuses³ for both parties on January 3rd.

The poll has former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁴ Romney in first place in Iowa with 28 percent support.  But Huckabee has moved up to a close second with 24 percent.  Former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee trails with 15 percent followed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at 13 percent.  Giuliani, however, continues to lead the Republican field in national polls.

Huckabee is getting more national attention as his standing⁵ in Iowa improves.  He recently appeared on a candidate's forum⁶ sponsored by XM radio and the CSPAN public affairs network.

"I know who I am," Huckabee said. "I am comfortable in my own skin, not mad at anybody.  In fact, I want to present the kind of positive leadership this nation needs."

Steffen Schmidt is a political expert at Iowa State University.  Schmidt says Huckabee is a candidate who could surprise a lot of people in the Iowa vote.

"Governor Huckabee is a good possibility, someone who is very charming and who has gotten very good publicity⁷ and is not at the top, but is rising," Schmidt said.

Huckabee is an ordained⁸ Baptist minister and his conservative views on abortion⁹ and gay marriage are an asset with evangelical Christian¹⁰ voters.  Religious conservatives make up a sizable portion of Republican caucus² goers in Iowa.

Experts say Huckabee's challenge will be to keep up the momentum¹¹ in Iowa and build on any success there to make him better known to Republicans nationally and raise campaign funds.

Larry Sabato directs the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"On the Republican side, it is obvious that if you were going to pick a surprise, you would pick Huckabee," Sabato said. "But how much of a surprise is he since he has been covered extensively now and everyone knows he is moving up in the polls."

Sabato was a guest on VOA's Talk to America webchat.

Iowa also looms¹² as a crucial test for the Democratic presidential contenders.  The recent Washington Post ABC News poll gave Illinois Senator Barack Obama a slight lead over Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, with former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina trailing behind in third place.

Clinton has a big lead in the national polls, but experts say an early defeat for her in Iowa would open up the Democratic race and make it much more unpredictable.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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

4 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。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

8 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

12 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》