VOA常速英语2008年-Iraq Looms as Major Issue in US Presidential Ra

By Jim Malone
Washington
11 April 2008

There is little doubt that the war in Iraq will be a major issue in this year's U.S. presidential campaign.  But it remains¹ to be seen whether voters will be in a mood to punish Republicans for getting the U.S. into the war in the first place, or fearful of supporting Democrats² pushing for a speedy withdrawal³.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more on Iraq as an evolving issue in the 2008 election.

Iraq and the domestic economy loom⁴ as the two major issues in the campaign at this point.  On Iraq, the major battle lines already appear clearly drawn⁵.

John Mueller is an expert on war and public opinion at Ohio State University.

"There does not seem to have been very much change in public opinion with the surge, and a lot of people seem to think things are going better," he said.  "But they still think the war was pretty much a mistake and that it has not been worth it.  In general, the Democrats, judging from the polls, are probably in a comparatively good position, and so they will probably bring the issue up more than the Republicans.  Though with John McCain being the nominee⁶, it is going to be hard for the Republicans to avoid."

McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, supports the Bush administration approach on keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to give the Iraqis time to make political progress.

The two Democratic contenders, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have promised to begin a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq shortly after taking office.

The recent congressional testimony⁷ of the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and of Ambassador Ryan Crocker, focused on what they described as real but fragile progress in Iraq.

But even some Republicans raised concerns during the hearings that there seems to be no clear long-term strategy for drawing U.S. involvement in Iraq to a close.

Bruce Miroff is a political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany.

"McCain is emphasizing that the war in Iraq is central to America's stance in the world, that he sees victory as the only option and that a long-term American commitment is necessary," he said.  "And what was striking in the hearings was that McCain was much more positive about what is happening right now in Iraq, progress in Iraq, than most other Republicans."

Public opinion polls have suggested that most Americans decided⁸ long ago that the war was a mistake.  But the polls also show continuing divisions over what should happen next.

Karlyn Bowman monitors public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"Around 60 percent continue to tell the pollsters that the war was a mistake," she said.  "Around 18 to 20 percent say that we should pull all of our troops out now.  That number has been rock solid for several years.  At the other end of the spectrum⁹, you still have about eight to 10 percent of the public wanting to beef up our presence in Iraq.  Everyone else is somewhere in between, favoring some different kinds of gradual withdrawals¹⁰."

Bowman acknowledges the Democrats have an overall advantage on Iraq as an issue in the campaign.  But she also says there is data to suggest that Iraq will not necessarily be, as she puts it, an albatross around John McCain's neck.

"The Democratic Party has a big advantage over the Republicans as the party best able to handle the situation in Iraq," she added.  "But in four of five recent polls when people were asked about the presidential candidates, McCain led Clinton and Obama by a solid margin¹¹ as the candidate who could best handle the situation there."

The Democratic presidential contenders as well as Democrats in Congress are being more aggressive in trying to link concerns over Iraq with worries about the U.S. economy.

Again, Bruce Miroff.

"The economy has turned much more sour and therefore, the continuing costs of the war are much more glaring," he explained.  "I think that was a major issue this time, how much we are spending in Iraq and how much of a surplus that the Iraqi government has in the bank, essentially¹², while we are continuing to fund things.  So I think there is a lot of grumbling¹³ among Americans who are not enthused about the war, but now are particularly kind of galled¹⁴ by the financial costs of the war."

It is still possible that economic concerns will trump¹⁵ Iraq as an issue at election time in November.

A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found 81 percent of those surveyed said they believe the United States is on the wrong track as a country, largely because of worries about the weakening domestic economy.

1 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。

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 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 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。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

14 galled   

v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱

参考例句：

• Their unkind remarks galled her. 他们不友善的话语使她恼怒。 来自辞典例句
• He was galled by her insulting language. 他被她侮辱性的语言激怒了。 来自辞典例句

15 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。