VOA慢速英语:美国大选迎来“超级星期二” 民主党总统候选人提名呼之欲出

People following the Democratic Party process for choosing its presidential nominee will watch the events of March 3 closely. The day is known as Super Tuesday.
关注民主党总统候选人提名程序的人们将会密切关注3月3日所发生的事件。这一天被称为超级星期二。
Reporters and political experts coined the term many years ago. It describes the day during the presidential election season when more states hold nominating elections than any other day. For the candidates, Super Tuesday is arguably the most important day for their chances to receive the party's nomination.
记者和政治专家在很多年前创造了这个名词。它是指总统选举期间各州举行候选人提名选举场次最多的一天。对于候选人来说，超级星期二对于他们获得党内提名的机会来说无疑是最重要的一天。

Fourteen states and one U.S. territory will be holding votes on that day. Among them are two of the nation's biggest states, California and Texas. The results will establish how many delegates each candidate earns. A total of 1,357 delegates will be decided. That is 34 percent of the total number of delegates needed to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in July.
当天将有14个州和一处美国领地举行投票。其中包括美国最大的两个州加利福尼亚州和德克萨斯州。投票结果将会确定每个候选人能赢得多少代表的支持。当天将会确定1357名代表。这个数字占到了赢得7月份民主党总统候选人提名所需代表总数的34%。

Currently, the leading candidate is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Other top candidates include former Vice President Joe Biden; former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren; and business investor Tom Steyer.
目前领先的候选人是佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯。其它排名靠前的候选人包括前副总统乔·拜登，前纽约市市长迈克尔·布隆伯格，前印第安纳州南本德市市长皮特·布蒂吉格，明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔，马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦以及商业投资者汤姆·斯蒂尔。

The race in the Democratic Party is getting the most attention because President Trump has only token opposition within the Republican Party.
因为川普在共和党内部只有象征性的反对，所以民主党的竞选获得了更大关注。

Who will have the most support on Super Tuesday?
谁将在超级星期二获得最大支持？

Political experts say Sanders is in the best position to do well. He had strong finishes in some of the earlier state contests. On Super Tuesday, he will have strong support in his home state of Vermont. And he is leading in public opinion studies in California and some other states.
政治专家称桑德斯处于最有利地位。他在一些早期投票的州表现出色。在超级星期二这天，他将获得家乡佛蒙特州的大力支持。他还在加利福尼亚等州的民意调查中处于领先地位。

However, Bloomberg could provide competition. News reports estimate that he has spent $400 million dollars on advertisements supporting his candidacy. He did not take part in the first four nominating votes.
然而布隆伯格可与他一较高下。据新闻报道估计，布隆伯格已经花了4亿美元做广告促选。他并未参加前4场提名投票。

Biden also could do well.
拜登也可能表现很好。

In addition, Warren is expected to do well in her home state of Massachusetts. Klobuchar is expected to gain the most delegates in her state of Minnesota.
此外，沃伦有望在她的家乡马萨诸塞州取得好成绩。预计克洛布查尔也将在她所在的明尼苏达州获得最多代表支持。

Super Tuesday will force many of the candidates to make tough decisions. A poor showing on Super Tuesday will make raising additional campaign money difficult.
超级星期二将会迫使很多候选人做出艰难决定。在这天表现不佳将会很难筹集到更多竞选资金。

In contrast, doing well on Super Tuesday has historically been a good sign for a candidate seeking the nomination. During the 2000 campaign, both Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush secured their nominations with wins on Super Tuesday. And in 2016, Republican Trump won seven of 10 states.
相反，从历史经验来看，在超级星期二这天表现优秀是寻求提名的候选人的一个好兆头。在2000年竞选期间，民主党人戈尔和共和党人小布什在超级星期二这天都以胜利确保了他们的提名。在2016年，共和党人川普赢下了10个州中的7个。