2007年VOA标准英语-Less Known US Presidential Candidates Struggle

By Jim Malone
Washington
09 April 2007

The latest tally¹ of those either running for U.S. president or thinking about it now stands at about 20. Some are well known, like Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Others are more obscure. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Among the 10 candidates seeking the Republican Party's presidential nomination² next year, you may have missed this announcement by one of the latest to join the race.

"Hi, I am Tom Tancredo and I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States," he said.

Tancredo is a Republican congressman³ from Colorado who is basing his White House bid on one single issue.

"I am doing so on talk radio because we face a problem of enormous proportion, and it is called illegal immigration," said Tom Tancredo.

Political experts give Tancredo and other so-called marginal candidates little chance of winning the Republican nomination. Others include California Congressman Duncan Hunter, Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

Democrats⁴ have their share of contenders struggling for attention in a presidential field that includes such well-known candidates as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel⁵ and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich are rarely mentioned in news stories about the campaign.

Bill Richardson

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson did gain national attention as a member of President Bill Clinton's cabinet. But even Richardson is finding it difficult to break through and have an impact in a crowded Democratic field.

Richardson is basing his appeal to Democrats in part on his tenure⁶ as President Clinton's Ambassador to the United Nations and often takes aim at President Bush's record on foreign policy.

"I know the usual rap [critique] on governors, that we do not know anything about foreign policy," said Bill Richardson. "Well, maybe you can say that about a certain [former] governor from Texas [President Bush], but not this governor."

So why are so many candidates with apparently⁷ little chance of winning staying in the race? Rutgers University expert Ross Baker⁸ says many of them are hoping to get a second look if and when some of the better known candidates stumble on the campaign trail.

"The people who are very prominent now and appear to be the potential winners, they can fade and people can lose interest in them," he said. "Their campaigns may falter⁹. You know, the longer the campaign, the greater the likelihood of somebody making a slip."

Recent campaign fundraising totals suggest the lesser¹⁰ known candidates will have a steep hill to climb to be taken seriously in the presidential race. Democrats Clinton and Obama each raised more than $25 million while Republican Mitt¹¹ Romney collected $21 million in the first three months of this year.

That compares with the $500,000 each raised by Republican candidates Duncan Hunter and Mike Huckabee.

John Fortier monitors U.S. politics at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"Raising money is very important for practical reasons such as running ads," he said. "But it also becomes a symbol of your strength."

Despite the large field of candidates, there is a possibility that other contenders could yet join the presidential race, including Former Republican Senator Fred Thompson and former Speaker of the House (of Representatives) Newt Gingrich.

Rutgers expert Ross Baker says the high cost of campaigning could make that difficult.

"I think the principal obstacle to late entrants into the campaign is money," he said. "These are enormously expensive campaigns to run. I mean, $100 million is not an outrageous¹² amount to talk about in the case of an individual campaign, and that is the problem."

Because of the large number of candidates, both parties can look forward to some very crowded public debates in the months before the first presidential caucuses¹³ and primaries next January.

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 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。

6 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

9 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

10 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

11 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。

12 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

13 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