VOA常速英语2008年-Romney Endorses McCain in US Presidential Race

By Jim Malone
Washington
14 February 2008

Republican presidential contender John McCain picked up the endorsement¹ of a former rival Thursday.  Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton got some potential good news in her battle with Barack Obama.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has the latest on the U.S. presidential race from Washington.

McCain won the endorsement of former Massachusetts governor Mitt² Romney.

During the campaign, the two were bitter rivals, clashing frequently during debates over immigration, taxes and negative campaign advertisements.

But at a joint³ appearance in Boston Thursday, both men did their best to put their differences behind them and unite for the good of the party.

Romney hailed McCain as uniquely qualified⁴ to lead the war on terror as president. 

"This is a man capable of leading our country at a dangerous hour," he said.  "Senator McCain understands the war we are in, the necessity of victory and the consequences of surrender."

McCain is hoping that most of the 280 delegates that Romney won before he pulled out of the presidential race last week will switch into his column, putting him ever closer to securing the Republican Party's presidential nomination⁵.

"We know it was a hard campaign," he said.  "And now we move forward together for the good of our party and the nation, and I am very honored to have governor Romney and the members of his team at my side."

Even before the Romney endorsement, McCain had an estimated 800 delegates and was getting close to the 1,191 votes needed to win the nomination.

McCain also hopes that the Romney endorsement will win over some conservative Republicans who continue to oppose him because of his record on taxes, campaign reform and immigration.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee remains⁶ in the Republican race, but trails McCain badly in the delegate count.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton's campaign fortunes may have taken a turn for the better Thursday with the release of new polls in the upcoming primary states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The polls by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut found Clinton leading Obama by 21 points in Ohio and by 16 points in Pennsylvania.

Ohio holds its presidential primary March 4 along with Texas.  Pennsylvania will vote on April 22.

Clinton is counting on those three states to blunt Obama's momentum⁷ in the wake of his eight straight caucus⁸ and primary victories.

"We go on," she said.  "We are ready for the contests that are upcoming and the hundreds of delegates that will be in play on March 4.  We are well organized and well positioned."

The poll numbers in Ohio and Pennsylvania could give the Clinton campaign a much-needed boost after several days of disappointing news.

But political experts point out that Clinton had big leads in several other states during this state-by-state nomination campaign, only to see Obama come from behind to win.

Obama remains focused on Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin and on a Democratic caucus in Hawaii in hopes of increasing his modest lead in total delegates.

Obama is also engaging the presumptive Republican presidential nominee⁹, Senator John McCain, during his campaign rallies, in hopes of building a sense of inevitability¹⁰ about his chances for the Democratic nomination.

"John McCain started attacking me on economic policy, which I thought was flattering," he said.  "It is clear he knows who his opponent is going to be and I am looking forward to a great debate."

Longtime political observer Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says Clinton is facing a must-win situation in Ohio and Texas in early March.

"She has to win somewhere," he said.  "He [Obama] has now won eight in a row, and that is powerful momentum.  Eight victories in a row is really compelling momentum.  Now, she does have an opportunity on the 4th of March."

DeFrank is the guest on this weekend's Press Conference USA program on VOA.

Obama is favored in Tuesday's contests in Wisconsin and Hawaii.

1 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

2 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。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 inevitability   

n.必然性

参考例句：

• Evolutionism is normally associated with a belief in the inevitability of progress. 进化主义通常和一种相信进步不可避免的看法相联系。
• It is the tide of the times, an inevitability of history. 这是时代的潮流，历史的必然。