McCain Can Launch National Campaign; Democrats Still Stuck

McCain Can Launch National Campaign; Democrats Still Stuck
John McCain secures the Republican nomination. New life in Clinton campaign intensifies issue of re-votes in Florida and Michigan. Transcript of radio broadcast:
08 March 2008


This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, Arizona Senator John McCain claimed the Republican nomination for president. His wins in four state primaries Tuesday gave him enough delegates to begin his national campaign for the November election. But against which Democrat?

New York Senator Hillary Clinton won three out of the four primaries, including the big states of Ohio and Texas. She also won Rhode Island. Illinois Senator Barack Obama won Vermont.

Hillary Clinton's victories marked a major comeback. She lost twelve straight caucuses and primaries to Barack Obama. In her victory speech in Ohio, she spoke of the importance of that state. She noted that no candidate in recent history, Democrat or Republican, has won the presidency without winning Ohio.

She received the majority of white and Latino votes in Ohio and Texas. But Barack Obama remained more popular among blacks and voters under the age of thirty.

Senator Obama still holds a small lead in the delegate count. The next big primary is in Pennsylvania on April twenty-second. Ten states along with Guam and Puerto Rico have yet to vote. But it remains unlikely that either Democrat will win enough delegates to secure the nomination before the party's convention in late August.

The tight race has brought new attention to Florida and Michigan. Those states want their votes to count at the national convention. But they held their primaries too early, in violation of party rules which those states had agreed to.

As punishment, the party took away the two hundred ten delegates from Florida and one hundred fifty-six from Michigan. Hillary Clinton won the primaries in both states, though Barack Obama was not even on the ballot in Michigan.

The governors of Michigan and Florida have presented a joint request to the party to seat their delegates at the convention. They say the national party is silencing the voices of more than five million people.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says Florida and Michigan should repeat their primaries. But he says the national party will not pay the estimated several million dollars in costs.

As Michigan and Florida try to find a solution, the candidates look toward votes in Wyoming on Saturday and Mississippi on Tuesday.

The two Democrats are also trying to win the support of almost eight hundred superdelegates. These are party leaders and elected officials who can vote for any candidate at the convention. They represent about twenty percent of all the delegates who will vote at the convention.

On the Republican side, President Bush announced his support for John McCain at the White House on Wednesday. The two men had competed for the Republican nomination in two thousand, and Mister Bush won. The seventy-one-year-old Senator McCain now has to name a choice for vice president. He says he has just begun that process.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

----------------------------Google Translate

麦凯恩能够发起全国性的运动;民主党人仍停留
麦肯恩确保了共和党提名。新的生命在柯林顿竞选激化的问题，重新点票，在佛罗里达州和密歇根州。全文电台广播：
2008年3月8日

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语。

这个星期，来自亚利桑那州的参议员麦凯恩声称，共和党提名为总统。他赢在四个州初选周二给了他足够的代表，开始他的全国运动，为11月的大选。但对其中民主党人？

纽约州联邦参议员希拉里克林顿赢得了三列的四个预选，其中包括大国，俄亥俄州和德克萨斯州。她也赢得罗德岛。伊利诺伊州参议员巴拉克奥巴马赢得佛蒙特州。

希拉里的胜利，是一个重大东山再起。她失去了12个直高加索和初选，以巴拉克奥巴马。在她的胜选演说中，在俄亥俄州，她谈到的重要性，该国。她指出，没有任何候选人，在近代历史上，民主党还是共和党，赢得了总统在没有赢得俄亥俄州。

她接到的大多数白人和拉美裔选票在俄亥俄州和德克萨斯州。但巴拉克奥巴马仍然是较受欢迎的黑人和选民年龄不足30 。

参议员奥巴马仍持有一小率先代表计数。下一个大的主要是在宾夕法尼亚州4月第二十二次。有10个国家与关岛和波多黎各尚未表决。但它仍然是不大可能无论是民主党将赢得足够的代表，以确保提名前，党的公约，在八月下旬。

紧张的比赛带来了新的关注佛罗里达州和密歇根州。这些国家希望把选票投给了指望在国民大会。但他们举行初选太早，违反党的规则，这些国家已同意。

作为惩罚，党拿走210代表从佛罗里达州和156来自密歇根州。希拉里赢得初选，在这两个国家，尽管巴拉克奥巴马甚至没有选票，在美国密歇根州。

省长的密歇根州和佛罗里达州都提出了联合的要求，以党的席位，他们的与会代表在公约。他们说，国家党是沉默的声音超过5万人。

民主党全国委员会主席霍华德迪安说，佛罗里达州和密歇根州应重复他们的初选。但是他说，国家党将不会支付，估计有几百万美元的费用。

密歇根和佛罗里达州试图找到解决问题的办法，候选人面向票，在怀俄明州对周六和密西西比州于周二。

这两个民主派人士也试图争取大众的支持，近800 superdelegates 。这些都是党的领袖和民选官员，他们可以投票给任何候选人，在该公约。他们代表约百分之二十的所有与会代表，他们将在会上投票的公约。

在共和党方面，布什总统宣布，他支持麦凯恩在白宫周三。该两名男子已竞相争取共和党提名，在2000和先生布什获得。这个71岁高龄的参议员麦凯恩现在已命名的选择副总统。他说，他才刚刚开始，这一进程。

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语，写brianna布雷克。我史蒂夫Ember公司。