VOA标准英语2008年-Obama Overtakes Clinton in Superdelegate Endors

By VOA News
10 May 2008

The latest count of Democratic Party superdelegates shows Barack Obama has eliminated Hillary Clinton's lead among the officials who will decide the party's nomination¹ for president. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

Superdelegates are the officeholders and other party officials who will attend the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver, Colorado. They can support whichever candidate they choose, regardless of who wins the primary elections and caucuses². Neither Obama nor Clinton can win the Democratic nomination without them.

The latest count by various news organizations show Obama has a narrow lead over Clinton in endorsements³ from superdelegates.

Because Obama leads in the number of regular delegates pledged, Clinton would need to win the superdelegates' support by a wide margin⁴ to receive the nomination.

Hillary Clinton has led Barack Obama in superdelegate support for most of the campaign, but since Obama's big win in the North Carolina primary and his better-than-expected narrow defeat in the Indiana primary last Tuesday, he has added 20 more superdelegates while Clinton has received only one.

Despite the fading prospects⁵ for her candidacy, Clinton continues to campaign tirelessly. She held a fundraising event in New York City Saturday, and blamed the OPEC cartel for rising fuel prices.

"I believe that nine of the 13 countries in OPEC are members of the W.T.O., and I would have the United States file complaints against them, and I would change our laws so that you could use the anti-trust laws to go after OPEC," he said.

Obama campaigned Saturday in the Northwestern city of Bend, Oregon, and again said he would end the Iraq war as soon as possible. "Our nation is involved in two wars--one war that has to be won, the war against al-Qaida and the terrorist networks in Afghanistan and in Pakistan--one war that was a war of choice and I believe should have never been authorized⁶ and should have never been waged, the war in Iraq that I want to bring to an end," he said.

The next primary election is on Tuesday in the small Eastern state of West Virginia, where Clinton has a big lead. Oregon and the Southern state of Kentucky vote the following week.

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 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

3 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

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 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。