VOA常速英语2008年-Obama Wins Racially-Divided Victory in Mississi

By Greg Flakus
Houston
12 March 2008

Senator Barack Obama added another victory to his campaign for the Democratic nomination¹ Tuesday, winning the southern state of Mississippi's primary. The 33 delegates at stake will be divided with opponent Senator Hillary Clinton because Democrats² divide delegates proportionally according to the vote totals for each candidate. VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, Obama owed his victory to a huge advantage among African Americans.

More than half the Democratic voters in Mississippi are black and around 90 percent of them voted for Barack Obama, the son of a father from Kenya and a white mother. White voters in the state tended to support Hillary Clinton. Many Democrats are troubled by this pattern.

Obama has based his campaign on appealing across racial lines. He won the first contest of this election year on January 3 in Iowa, a state that is around 90 percent white. But since then blacks in every primary or caucus³ have tended to vote for Obama in large numbers. Less than six months ago, polls showed strong support in the black community for Hillary Clinton, based partially⁴ on the accomplishments⁵ of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Obama has been able to rally support from young voters from all ethnic⁶ and racial groups, but older white voters have voted in larger numbers for Clinton. She also has a distinct advantage with women voters.

Clinton is looking for big wins in other states holding contests in the weeks ahead, including such large states as Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina. Her strength with working class voters and women is expected to help her in those states. Since the percentage of black voters in these states is much lower than it is in a state like Mississippi, Obama will need to reinforce his efforts to draw white voters to support him.

One clear advantage Obama enjoys is a more than 100-delegate lead over Clinton, giving him the momentum⁷ of a frontrunner. Clinton, on the other hand, hopes her attacks on what she describes as Obama's inexperience will blunt his drive and give her a chance to regain⁸ momentum.

Democratic Party leaders view all of this with growing concern, however, since a prolonged contest between these two candidates delays efforts to prepare for the general election and provides Republicans with ammunition⁹ to use against the eventual¹⁰ nominee¹¹.

Senator John McCain clinched¹² the Republican nomination after winning here in Texas and in three other states on March 4 and has been able to devote time since then to fundraising and preparations for the November election.

Complicating¹³ the Democratic race further is the possibility that contests in Florida and Michigan may be repeated. Party officials had taken delegates away from those states after they violated party rules by moving their primaries up on the calendar.

The governors of those states are now demanding that their citizens be represented, so both states are planning to re-do their contests in June. But even after those contests, it is likely that neither candidate will have the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination, so the race could continue right up to the national Democratic convention in Denver in late August.

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 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》

3 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。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

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 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 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。

12 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

13 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。