2007年VOA标准英语-McCain Presidential Bid Falters

By Jim Malone
Washington
13 July 2007

In U.S. presidential politics, it was a bad week for Republican hopeful John McCain.  On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama moved to solidify¹ their positions as the top contenders for their party's nomination².  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has the latest on the 2008 campaign from Washington.

It was a rough week for the McCain campaign.  Several top aides quit in a staff shakeup that followed a disappointing period of fundraising for the Arizona senator.

Just back from Iraq, McCain urged fellow senators to give President Bush's surge strategy in Iraq more time to work even as public opinion polls continued to show declining support for the war effort.

Senator John McCain talks with reporters regarding changes to his presidential campaign staff on Capitol Hill, 10 July  2007

"A lot of us are driven by principle and a lot of us do what we think is right, no matter what the polls say," said Mr. McCain.

Early on, John McCain was seen as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.  But in the latest Gallup poll, McCain is in third place, trailing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who has not even officially join the race.

Experts note that opinion polls conducted so early in the election campaign may not be a reliable indicator³ of who will actually get the party nominations⁴.

Stuart Rothenberg publishes a political newsletter in Washington.  He traces McCain's current problems to longstanding differences with conservatives within the Republican Party.

"Conservatives never embraced him," he noted⁵.  "They viewed him as too close to the Democrats⁶ on issues like campaign finance reform and, most importantly, immigration.  He is not the fresh face that he once was, not the reformer-outsider.  And so his fundraising problems really just reflect a deeper set of problems for the campaign."

John McIntyre is editor of the politics Web site RealClearPolitics.com.  McIntyre says conservatives have long memories when it comes to their disagreements with McCain, who also ran for president in 2000.

"And John McCain, because of how he achieved much of his popularity from 2000 to 2003, it was by beating up on President Bush and beating up on conservatives," he recalled.  "And when he ran in 2000, he ran very much going after the independent type of voter."

The latest Gallup poll has Giuliani at 30 percent, followed by Thompson at 20 percent, McCain at 16 percent and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁷ Romney at 9 percent.  Six other Republican contenders trail behind.

In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain the top two contenders in an eight-person field.

Clinton leads in the latest Gallup poll with 37 percent support among Democratic voters, followed by Obama at 21 percent, former Vice⁸ President Al Gore⁹ with 16 percent and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards at 13 percent.

Gore has said he has no plans to run, disappointing some Democrats who feel he would be the best alternative to Hillary Clinton.

Analyst¹⁰ Stuart Rothenberg says Clinton continues to do well in the polls while Obama has shown surprising strength in his fundraising.

"Well, she is strong," he noted.  "Her problem at the moment is that there is another strong candidate in the race, Barack Obama, who has raised boatloads of money and is a personally appealing alternative.  And if he can convince Democrats and the American public at large that he is experienced enough and that they can trust him with the job of being President of the United States, he is a serious alternative."

With Edwards slipping a bit in the polls, some analysts¹¹ see a protracted¹² battle for the Democratic nomination between Clinton and Obama in the months ahead.

Christopher Gelpi is a political scientist at Duke University in North Carolina.

"Hillary Clinton has been unable to sort of run opponents into the ground with her fundraising, which I think was her initial plan," he explained.  "And that has not worked out, that she has not become the presumptive winner that she hoped to be by now."

It remains¹³ early in the 2008 election cycle and opinion polls suggest many Americans have not yet begun to closely follow the presidential race.

But political experts say success at fundraising and organizing now will pay big dividends¹⁴ for contenders in January when the first caucuses¹⁵ and primaries are held to determine the party nominees¹⁶.

1 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

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 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

4 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 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》

7 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。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

10 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。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

15 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

16 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网