2007年VOA标准英语-US Presidential Candidates Court Hispanic Voter

By Steve Mort
Orlando, Florida
09 July 2007
 

Hot issues, such as immigration, interest Hispanic voters

American presidential candidates are aggressively seeking support from Hispanics as the race for the 2008 presidential election heats up.  Latinos have become an important voting bloc¹ in key states -- such as California, Florida, Texas and New York.  And, as Steve Mort reports from Orlando, Florida, the issue of immigration reform has galvanized Latino voters.

Candidates vying² to become the next president of the United States are courting Hispanic voters at events such as one in Orlando, Florida.

The candidates, such as Democratic Senator Barack Obama, are trying to win support from Latinos by touting³ their credentials⁴ on issues like immigration.

"Nobody has been a more consistent supporter of comprehensive immigration reform than I have been".

Polls show immigration reform is the biggest issue for U.S. Hispanics, especially now that Congress failed to pass a bill to improve border security and legalize millions of undocumented workers, mainly from Latin America.

The most recent U.S. government data estimates there are more than 40 million Hispanics in the United States  -- accounting⁵ for more than 12 percent of the total U.S. population.

Henry Cisneros

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros was the first Hispanic leader of a major American city. He says Latino communities are growing fastest in places where presidential candidates most need support in order to win. "When you look at the most populous⁶ states in America -- California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois -- they also happen to be the states that have the largest Latino populations in America. Add to that some of the fastest-growing states like Arizona, Colorado, Nevada -- Latinos are going to be a factor".

President Bush's efforts to grab Latino support raised his share of the Hispanic vote from 35 percent in 2000 to 44 percent in 2004.

So 2008 presidential candidates, like Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, have sought backing from high-profile Hispanics.

Robert Menendez

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, who supports Clinton, says issues like immigration have motivated Hispanics to turn out to at the polls, making them a crucial voting block. "We've seen a continuous rise in the turnout of Latino voters in the year 2004 in the presidential election, last year in the midterm elections when the rest of the population dipped in turnout, our population rose in terms of turnout, and the projections⁷ for 2008 continue to rise."

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials confirms this.  At its recent conference in Orlando, it stressed that last November's U.S. midterm elections saw the highest Latino turnout on record -- nine million voters, compared to six million in 2002. Most of those votes went to Democratic Party candidates.

But Houston-based political researcher David Hill says neither party can count on unwavering support from Latinos."It's very much an independent vote that's up for grabs, and maybe that's the stimulus⁸ for more politicians looking at it to find some opportunity. But it's the kind of thing, I think, that makes some politicians pause because they haven't quite got a fix yet on 'who are Hispanics politically and which direction are they headed'?"

He says his research shows Latinos are interested in a range of issues, including education, health care, the economy and U.S. relations with Latin American countries like Mexico and Cuba.

And he agrees that Hispanics can have a decisive impact on the result of next year's Presidential election -- if they turn out to vote in large numbers.

1 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

2 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

3 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

4 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

7 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

8 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。