2007年VOA标准英语-Biden on Defensive as He Enters US Presidential

By Jim Malone
Washington
01 February 2007

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware is the latest Democrat¹ to join the race for president in 2008. But Biden already finds himself on the defensive² over some comments he made about one of his rivals, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

 
Joe Biden
Biden gave an interview to The New York Observer newspaper describing Senator Obama as "the first mainstream³ African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Shortly after announcing his presidential bid, Biden found himself trying to first explain, then apologize for his remarks, including telephoning Senator Obama.

Biden said he was trying to be complimentary⁴ to Obama, and that his remarks had been taken out of context.

 
Barack Obama
Obama said he did not take Biden's remarks personally, but he said they were inaccurate⁵, noting previous African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Carol Moseley Braun and Shirley Chisolm.

Senator Biden expressed regret for his comments on The Daily Show on the Comedy Central cable TV network.

"The word that got me in trouble was using the word clean. I should have said fresh," he said.

Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a leading Democratic Party voice on Iraq. Biden emphasized his long experience in the Senate dealing⁶ with foreign policy in an interview with ABC television.

"But the next president of the United States, because of the policies of this president, is going to have no margin⁷ for error," he said. "He or she, the moment they take office, is going to have to figure out how to extricate⁸ us from Iraq, without making the Middle East even more destabilized," he said.

This is Senator Biden's second presidential bid. Biden dropped out of the 1988 race for president after he was accused of plagiarizing⁹ speeches given by former British Labor¹⁰ Party leader Neil Kinnock.

 
Hillary Rodham Clinton waves during a press conference at Central High School in Davenport, Iowa, 28 Jan 2007
Beyond his problems about the Obama comments, Senator Biden also faces the challenge of gaining media and public attention in a race that so far is being dominated by Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential field.

Stephen Hess, a political expert at George Washington University, explains the appeal of Obama and Clinton.

"He [Obama] has the charm of newness, in which everybody can read into it what they think he believes, because it is what they believe. She [Clinton], we know where she is coming from. It is just an absolutely fascinating duo," he said.

Other Democratic contenders include former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

In addition, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is in the race along with Ohio Congressman¹¹ Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel¹².

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 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

5 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

6 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。

7 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。

8 extricate   

v.拯救，救出；解脱

参考例句：

• How can we extricate the firm from this trouble?我们该如何承救公司脱离困境呢？
• She found it impossible to extricate herself from the relationship.她发现不可能把自己从这种关系中解脱出来。

9 plagiarizing   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was accused of plagiarizing his colleague's results. 他被指控剽窃同事的成果。
• Moderates are plagiarizing his ideas in hopes of wooing voters. 温和派为讨好选民在盗用他的观点。 来自辞典例句

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 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。

12 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。