VOA常速英语2008年-McCain Asks Republican Party to Unite; Clinton,

By Cindy Saine
Washington
06 February 2008

Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are preparing for a long, state-by-state battle for delegates after splitting victories in the Super Tuesday contests for the Democratic presidential nomination¹. On the Republican Party side, Senator John McCain is asking his party to unite behind him after scoring crucial election victories. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Senator Hillary Clinton won the two biggest prizes Tuesday in terms of delegates, New York and California, but the race for the Democratic nomination is far from over.

Senator Barack Obama scored wins in 13 states, giving him fresh momentum² for upcoming state primaries. At a news conference in Chicago Wednesday, Obama was happy with his performance.

"We won more delegates and we won more states in every region of this country," said Barack Obama. "We won big states and small states, we won red states and blue states and we won swing states [states that sometime vote Republican or Democratic in general election]."

Senator Clinton's campaign, however, says she is still leading in the all-important delegate count, and different news media outlets³ are posting different delegate count totals, depending on the way they are calculated under a complex system. Everyone agrees however, that Clinton and Obama are virtually tied right now.

The campaigns are looking ahead to contests this Saturday in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state, and February 12 primaries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Obama is planning a major rally in New Orleans on Thurday.

For the Republicans, Senator John McCain scored major victories in California, New York and other states, leaving him with more than half the delegates needed for the nomination, and far ahead of his rivals. At his own news conference in Phoenix⁴ today, McCain asked conservative critics within his own party to "calm down a little bit", and said it is time for his party to unite behind him.

"Our message will be that we all share common conservative principles and we should coalesce⁵ around those isssues in which we are in agreement," said John McCain.

Some conservative Republicans consider McCain a maverick⁶ because of his positions on issues such as immigration and campaign finance reform.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee surprised many by sweeping⁷ much of the South - a region where McCain did not do as well, and he said he is staying in the race until someone has the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.

Former Governor Mitt⁸ Romney won his home state of Massachusetts and several smaller western states, but he and Huckabee trail McCain by a substantial margin⁹.

1 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。

2 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。

3 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

5 coalesce   

v.联合，结合，合并

参考例句：

• And these rings of gas would then eventually coalesce and form the planets.这些气体环最后终于凝结形成行星。
• They will probably collide again and again until they coalesce.他们可能会一次又一次地发生碰撞，直到他们合并。

6 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 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。

9 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。