VOA常速英语2008年-Clinton Keeps Presidential Campaign Alive With

By Jim Malone
Washington
23 April 2008

Senator Hillary Clinton kept her presidential hopes alive Tuesday with a convincing victory over rival Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary. The Democratic presidential race now moves on to primaries in North Carolina and Indiana on May Sixth. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Clinton needed a victory to remain in the Democratic nomination¹ race. And, she got it -- with strong support from women, senior citizens and white working-class voters in Pennsylvania.

Clinton scored a substantial victory over Obama, who drew support from African-Americans, college-educated and more affluent² voters.

An Obama victory in Pennsylvania could have ended Clinton's White House hopes. The former First Lady expressed appreciation³ to her supporters at a rally in Philadelphia.

"I might stumble and I might get knocked down, but as long as you will stand with me, I will always get right back up! Because, for me, in the end, the question is not whether we can keep America's promise, it is whether we will keep America's promise," she said.

Obama lost despite outspending Clinton in Pennsylvania by a margin⁴ of more than two to one. Obama remains⁵ ahead in the overall Democratic delegate count and in total popular vote won in the caucuses⁷ and primaries, so far. But Clinton has won most of the large states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, California and New York.

Obama addressed his supporters at a rally in Indiana and focused on his differences with the presumptive Republican nominee⁸, Senator John McCain.

"We already know what we are getting out of the other party's nominee. John McCain has offered this country a lifetime of service and we respect that. But what he is not offering is any meaningful change from the polices of George W. Bush," he said.

Nine Democratic contests remain before the end of the caucus⁶ and primary season on June Third. It now appears that neither candidate will have amassed⁹ the number of delegates needed to win the nomination outright¹⁰ at the end of the primary season. That means uncommitted so-called "super delegates" could play a decisive role in the nomination battle sometime before the Democrats¹¹ hold their national convention in Denver in late August.

Super delegates are party office holders¹² and activists¹³ who can choose to support either candidate.

But many Democrats worry that the lengthy¹⁴ and bitter nomination fight between Obama and Clinton could the split the party and make it vulnerable in the general election in November against the presumed Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.

Political analysts¹⁵ like Stuart Rothenberg expect the Democrats to try and coalesce¹⁶ around a nominee, shortly after the primary season ends in early June.

"I think Democratic Party leaders believe it should end with the end of the primary calendar. They do not want this to drag on well into June or to July or, God forbid from their point of view, into August. They would like it to end pretty quickly," he said.

Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns are now focused on the May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. Obama is favored in North Carolina, but Indiana is rated as a toss-up and will likely receive the bulk of the campaign attention over the next two weeks.

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 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

3 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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

8 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。

9 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

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》

12 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

15 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。

16 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。