VOA常速英语2008年-Obama Builds Momentum in US Presidential Race

By Jim Malone
Washington
13 February 2008

Senator Barack Obama got a major boost Tuesday with victories in the Democratic presidential primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Obama remains¹ in a tight race with Senator Hillary Clinton, but the Illinois senator is favored to add to his delegate lead in next Tuesday's contests in Wisconsin and Hawaii. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Experts were struck by the margins³ of the Obama victories on Tuesday, especially in Virginia and Maryland where he won 64 percent and 62 percent of the vote respectively.

Obama benefited from strong support from African-Americans and a burning desire for change among many voters like this man in the nation's capital.

"I just want to see change in the world and I think this primary can bring about change, specifically on Iraq and health care," he said.

Obama has now won eight contests in a row against Clinton and hopes to build unstoppable momentum⁴ with victories in next Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin and a Democratic caucus⁵ in Hawaii.

"It is about whether we are looking backwards⁶ or whether we are marching forward," said Obama. "And when I am the Democratic nominee⁷ for president, that will be the choice we have in November."

Political analysts⁸ say Clinton must stop his momentum on March 4 when Texas and Ohio hold primaries. Clinton has done better in the large states than Obama, benefiting from better organization and greater name recognition.

As she campaigns in Texas, Clinton will continue to emphasize her experience to counter Obama's call for change.

"I am a problem solver," she said. "I believe that we need a president, starting on day one, who is going to roll up his or her sleeves and get to work!"

Obama may be gaining an edge because more voters seem to be responding to his message of change.

Anthony Salvanto directs polling for CBS News and noted⁹ the results in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

"By a large margin², Democratic voters said they were looking for a candidate who could bring change over a candidate with experience," said Salvanto. "Barack Obama handily won those voters looking for change."

Obama's challenge now is to win over more women, Hispanic and working class voters in large states with upcoming races like Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Democratic Party rules governing the allocation of delegates will make it difficult for either candidate to run away with the nomination¹⁰ anytime soon.

Democrats¹¹ use a method of proportional allocation that allows the loser in a given primary or caucus to still win a share of the delegates. Republicans generally apply a winner-take-all approach to their contests.

Longtime political observer Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News predicts the hard-fought Obama-Clinton battle will go on for sometime.

"The bottom line is, the Democratic race is going to continue in a real slugfest, these two titans, well-funded, with fierce support, slugging away at each other for weeks to come," said DeFrank.

The latest delegate estimates give Obama a modest lead. Both candidates have won roughly 1,200 delegates. The first candidate to win 2,025 delegates wins the Democratic nomination.

In the Republican race, Senator John McCain moved closer to his party's nomination with a sweep of the primaries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

McCain's remaining major challenger, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, continues to draw support from conservatives disenchanted with McCain. But experts say it is virtually impossible for Huckabee to win enough remaining delegates to overtake McCain.

The latest estimates give McCain about 800 delegates, and it takes 1,191 to secure the Republican nomination.

1 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。

2 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。

3 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

4 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。

5 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

6 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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》