CNN 2011-11-10

 A bit of breaking news from yesterday afternoon.Many of you know who Michael Jackson was.The self-titled king of pon died of heart attack two years ago at age 50.Yesterday,a jury found that Jackson's personal doctor Conrad Murray was guilty of involuntary manslaughter.Michael Jackson had trouble sleeping,and what Murray did was give Jackson Propofol,a drug used to keep people asleep during surgery.That,along with other sleeping drugs,is what killed Michael Jackson.Dcotor Murray could be sentenced to 4 years in prison for the crime.

It's an election day in the United States.A lot of local elections are happening from positions like city council,mayor and judge.The big presidential vote is 363 days from now.Most is pretty certain that no Democrats¹ will challenge president Obama for his party's nomination².We don't know yet who represents the Republicans.The Reoublican debates you've heard about helped voters.Here's what the candidates have to say.

The process of deciding the Republican nominee³ will start earlier next year in a series of dicussions called primaries and caucuses⁴.Typically,the incumbent⁵ president,a leader who's running for re-election,has some advantages in campaigning against these challenges.Jessica Y explains what these advantages are ,and why president isn't taking advantage of all of them.

Whether it's airforce 1,hail to the chief,or even the white house itself.

This crisp,cool day in the rose garden.

Part of the re-election playbook is leveraging⁶ the power and prestige of the presidency⁷ to overshadow your opponent.That hasn't always worked.The so-called rose garden strategy has been deployed⁸ by most modern presidents.

Most of the predecessors⁹ of Barack Obama would use the White House as a staging platform.They want to remind people that they're the commander-in-chief,that there's just an inherent power in seeing the great seal of the United States behind you from the White House.

Burned by the Washington gridlock,president Obama is taking a different approach.

Washington,right now,is politically as toxic¹⁰ as you can get.And that's most people can remember it being.I think the president enjoys going out and talking to the American people.

So over the past 3 months,he's repeatedly hit the road to small towns,looking more like candidate Obama than commander-in-chief,often ditching airforce 1 for a bus,rolling up his shirt sleeves.Sometimes skipping hill to chief altogether.The image mirrors the message.

It was time to get out of Washington.

The president wants to distance himself from Washington and the partisan¹¹ politics that he promised but failed to fix.

Some folks on Washington don't seem to be listening.What's broken is our politics.The problem is that we got the kind of partisan brinksmanship that is willing to put party ahead country.You'll hear him say throughout the campaign that he's trying to break the gridlock,something he explained at a recent press conference.

I used up a lot of political capital and I got the dings and bruises¹² to prove it.

Democrats say the message can work.

He can go out and say I've been trying to change the system.I've been fighting the established order and pushing my job's bill which is really I think the best thing he's got going for him right now.

But Republicans are already building a case against it.The problem is he's a head of the government in Washington.And his party controls half of the Congress in Washington.It just becomes a very ,very difficult sell to the American people to persuade them that the head of the Democratic party that controls the Senate and the head of the entire government is running against the government that he heads.

1 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》

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 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。

4 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

5 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

6 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》