VOA标准英语2008年-Obama Moves Closer to Democratic Nomination

By Jim Malone
Washington
21 May 2008

Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each won a primary on Tuesday, but the net result is that Obama is one step closer to securing his party's presidential nomination².  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Most estimates now place Barack Obama within 100 delegates of the magic number of 2,026 he needs to claim the Democratic nomination outright³.

Obama secured a majority of the pledged delegates after his victory in the Oregon primary.  Pledged delegates are awarded on the basis of the caucus⁴ and primary contests that began with Obama's victory in Iowa on January 3.

Obama was back in Iowa Tuesday night and spoke⁵ optimistically about unifying⁶ the Democratic Party once his race with rival Hillary Clinton is over.

"Some may see the millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is divided," he said.  "But I see it as proof as we have never been more energized⁷ and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction."

For her part, Clinton won another convincing victory in Kentucky.  Clinton will remain in the race through the end of the primary season on June 3 and continues to insist that she would be the stronger Democrat¹ to run against the presumptive Republican nominee⁸, Senator John McCain.

"Our party will have a tough choice to make, who is ready to lead our party at the top of our ticket?" she asked.  "Who is ready to defeat Senator McCain in the swing states and among swing voters?"

Clinton easily outpaced Obama among white working class voters in Kentucky, something she has done in several recent primaries.  Obama improved his showing among working class voters in Oregon.

Contrary to Clinton's view, Oregon voters also saw Obama as the stronger opponent for McCain in the general election.

Anthony Salvanto is director of surveys for CBS News.

"In winning Oregon, Barack Obama was seen as the candidate best able to defeat John McCain in the fall," he noted⁹.  "By about a two to one margin¹⁰, Oregonians said that it was Obama, not Clinton, who would be the one best able to defeat McCain."

Experts see no way for Clinton to catch up to Obama in the overall delegate count between now and the end of the primaries on June 3.  Clinton's only path is to convince a large number of the 200 or so remaining uncommitted superdelegates that she would be a stronger nominee than Obama, despite his lead in the delegate count, popular vote and number of states won.

Superdelegates are Democratic officeholders and party activists¹¹ free to support either candidate.  But more of them have been flocking to Obama in recent weeks than to Clinton.

Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says Clinton supporters are adamant¹² that she stay in the nomination race until the end.

"And I think she also feels, some of her friends say, that she feels real obligations to the tens of thousands of people, especially women voters, who have stuck with her and would like her to see it through to the end," he said.

Some Democratic Party leaders are already looking ahead to how the party can bind¹³ up the wounds after a long and bruising¹⁴ nomination fight.  Former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle is an Obama supporter who made an appeal for unity¹⁵ on CBS television.

"We want to begin the process of bringing this party together, and I think over the last few weeks we have seen indications at virtually all levels in both campaigns that there is a desire to do that," he explained.

Only three more primaries remain in the Democratic contest.  Puerto Rico votes on June 1, followed by South Dakota and Montana on June 3.  Many senior Democrats¹⁶ expect the party to rally around Obama as the presumptive nominee sometime in June, well before the Democratic nominating convention in late August.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

7 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

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 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 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。

11 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》

12 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

13 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

14 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

16 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》