VOA常速英语:Republican Nomination Still Undecided, Clinton Leads Democratic Camp

The latest national poll shows Republican U.S. presidential contender Ben Carson ahead of billionaire Donald Trump, who had consistently led the race for the GOP nomination. In the Democratic camp, frontrunner Hillary Clinton has established a decisive lead over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Donald Trump's new book, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, went on sale Tuesday. It reinforces his campaign message that he would make the country strong again. Trump said his rival Ben Carson does not have the energy it takes to be president.

"We need somebody with tremendous energy to straighten out the military, to straighten out ISIS, to straighten out our horrible trade deals, to terminate Obamacare and come up with something far better for far less money. You need somebody with tremendous personal energy to run as president. We have a president now that doesn't have energy," said Trump.

Republican candidates by and large criticize the Obama administration and pledge to dismantle some of his policies. On Monday, the president ridiculed Republicans who suggest that the United States was better off before he took over.

"According to them, everything was really good in 2008 when we were going through the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes; unemployed and uninsured rates were up, and we were hopelessly addicted to foreign oil, and bin Laden was still on the loose. This apparently was the golden age that I messed up,” said Obama.

Several Republican presidential candidates, including current frontrunner Ben Carson, have teamed up to demand changes in the televised debates that would include limiting provocative moderator questions.

"We should have moderators who are interested in disseminating information about the candidates," said Carson.

But the idea has been all but abandoned after it met with widespread criticism and was ridiculed by President Obama.

"If you can't handle those guys (moderators), then I don't think that the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," joked Obama.

While the Republican camp still does not have a consistent frontrunner one full year before the election, Hillary Clinton has established a strong lead on the democratic side.