2004-1-11
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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve
Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. This week, we examine the events ahead
in the race for the presidential election in the United States.
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VOICE ONE:
Americans elect a president every four years. Election Day this
year is November second.
Republicans will gather in New York City at the end of August to
nominate President Bush for a second term. Two terms is the limit
under the Constitution.
Democrats will hold their convention at the end of July in
Boston, Massachusetts. Howard Dean has been leading the candidates
for the Democratic nomination. But the former governor of Vermont
has eight opponents -- most notably, Wesley Clark, who has been
gaining support. The candidates have campaigned for months. But the
nominating process is just beginning. What happens this month is
important.
VOICE TWO:
On January nineteenth, party meetings called caucuses will take
place in Iowa. People will gather in homes and public buildings all
over the state to choose the person they want to lead the country.
But they do not vote for a candidate like in a primary election.
Instead, they elect local delegates. Each delegate elected
represents a percentage of support from their local area for a
presidential candidate. As the process continues, delegates elect
other delegates to represent them. Those chosen at state conventions
in Iowa then attend the national nominating convention of their
party.
For years, party leaders decided the nominees at the national
conventions. But now the events are largely ceremonial. Votes at the
state level decide who will compete for president long before the
conventions begin.
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VOICE ONE:
In each election year, the Iowa caucuses are a first test of
public approval for a candidate. But some political experts
criticize the Iowa caucuses. They call them strange and indirect.
This year, two of the nine Democratic candidates are not
competing in Iowa. They are retired Army General Wesley Clark and
Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman. They are saving their money
and energy for later events.
Iowa public opinion changes from day to day. But Howard Dean,
Congressman Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Senator John Kerry of
Massachusetts all have strong support.
VOICE TWO:
Public opinion research shows that Senator John Edwards of North
Carolina and Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio have little chance
to win in Iowa. The same can be said for the Reverend Al Sharpton of
New York and former Senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois.
Still, these candidates for the Democratic nomination have chosen
to compete in Iowa. They remember that in nineteen-seventy-six, a
little-known candidate, the former governor of Georgia, won the Iowa
caucuses. Jimmy Carter went on to become the thirty-ninth president
of the United States.
VOICE ONE:
After Iowa, people will look to see who wins the New Hampshire
primary. New Hampshire holds its primary election on January
twenty-seventh. Some say the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire
primary may decide the Democratic nomination. They say that if
Howard Dean wins both events, he could soon have enough delegates to
secure the nomination.
Other states and territories will hold their own nominating
events in the coming weeks and months. But candidates who do poorly
this month may leave the race before long. They will find it
difficult to raise enough money to continue their campaigns.
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VOICE TWO:
Howard Dean is a medical doctor.
He served in the Vermont House of Representatives and later as
lieutenant governor. He became governor in nineteen-ninety-one. In
two-thousand he signed a bill to make Vermont the only state to
permit civil unions between people of the same sex. Civil unions
offer the same legal protections as marriage.
Doctor Dean served as governor of the small state in the
Northeast until January of last year. As a presidential candidate,
he strongly opposed the war in Iraq.
Since he opened his campaign, supporters have provided him with
large amounts of money through the Internet. He raised at least
fifteen-million dollars in the last three months alone.
VOICE ONE:
Wesley Clark entered the
competition several months after the other candidates. But some
political experts believe he has the best chance against Doctor
Dean. Wesley Clark earned military honors in the Vietnam War. And he
was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England.
General Clark rose in leadership positions in the Army. Before
retiring, he served as NATO commander. He led NATO troops during the
operations against Serbian forces in Kosovo.
Like Howard Dean, Wesley Clark has also proven his ability to
raise money. He collected at least ten-million dollars during the
last three months.
VOICE TWO:
John Kerry received many honors for his military service during
the Vietnam War. But later he opposed that war. He is now serving
his fourth term in the Senate.
As president, he says he would try to reduce American dependence
on oil from the Middle East. He says his plan also would create a
half-million jobs in new energy industries.
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VOICE ONE:
Dick Gephardt is the former Democratic Party leader in the House
of Representatives. He has served twenty-six years in the House.
Over the years he has won major labor-union support for his efforts
to defend American workers.
Mister Gephardt sought the Democratic presidential nomination in
nineteen-eighty-eight. At that time, he won the Iowa caucuses.
VOICE TWO:
Candidates for the presidential nomination of the two major
parties have mainly been white, male and Protestant Christian. This
year two of the candidates are African American: Carol Moseley Braun
and Al Sharpton. And Joe Lieberman is the first Jewish candidate.
John Kerry and Dennis Kucinich are both Roman Catholic.
VOICE ONE:
Mister Lieberman has served more than fourteen years in the
Senate. Many say he is the candidate whose policies are closest to
those of former President Bill Clinton. He was the vice presidential
candidate of Al Gore in the election of two-thousand. But, in this
election, Mister Gore has given his support to Howard Dean.
VOICE TWO:
Carol Moseley Braun was the first black woman in the Senate.
Later President Clinton appointed her ambassador to New Zealand.
Al Sharpton campaigned several times for public office in New
York, but was never elected. He established a civil rights group in
nineteen-ninety-one.
John Edwards is the youngest candidate for the Democratic
nomination. He is fifty years old. The former trial lawyer is
serving his first term as a senator from North Carolina.
In nineteen-seventy-seven, Dennis Kucinich became mayor of
Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of thirty one. He was the youngest mayor
ever elected in a large American city. Today, the congressman
opposes the World Trade Organization and the North American Free
Trade Agreement. That agreement is ten years old this month.
VOICE ONE:
Mister Kucinich also opposed the war in Iraq, as did Howard Dean,
Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton. Wesley Clark says President
Bush involved the United States in unnecessary conflict. But at one
time he also said he would have voted for the war. Representative
Gephardt and Senators Lieberman, Edwards and Kerry all did so.
All the candidates have criticized the Bush administration for
its handling of Iraq since the end of major fighting there.
VOICE TWO:
But right now President Bush is not the only target for
criticism. So is Howard Dean as the other Democrats compete against
his popularity for the nomination in July.
Then will come the campaign for Election Day in November.
Generally speaking, experts describe America as equally divided on
major political issues. As evidence they point, for example, to the
close results in the two-thousand election.
Public opinion research shows that a majority of Americans
approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as president. Political
experts note that the improving economy and the capture of Saddam
Hussein have helped those approval ratings. There have also been
recent gains in Mister Bush's lead among likely voters over Howard
Dean and the other Democratic candidates.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty
Weaver.
I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for another
report about life in the United States on the VOA Special English
program, THIS IS AMERICA.