Economy a Two-Edged Sword for Democrats

2017-05-03 12:05:07

https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ken-walshs-washington/2014/10/03/economy-a-two-edged-sword-for-democrats

President Obama's latest speech touting his economic record marks the start of the Democratic party's final appeal to voters in the Nov. 4 midterm election, with the goal of portraying Democratic candidates as defenders of the middle class and pegging Republicans as promoters of the rich and big corporations.

touting ：高度评价；过分夸奖；吹捧：

The politician was touted as a friend of people.

这个政客被吹捧为人民之友。

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Obama told an audience at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois Thursday that the economy has been improving, with layoffs on the decline, steady job growth and the Gross domestic product  (GDP)on the upswing. He said he has presided over "the longest uninterrupted stretch of private sector job creation in our history," with 10 million new jobs created in the past four and a half years. He added: "It is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than it was when I took office." Of course, that's not saying much for millions of middle class Americans who don't feel that the economy has improved for them and who blame Obama, at least in part, for not making things better. Reflecting these concerns, Obama's job approval rating is just above 40 percent in various polls, a poor rating.

layoffs：

• n. 裁员；解雇

presided

• v. 主持（preside的过去式）

blame for 责备；因……责备

 

disputable可争辩的，可商榷的，有争议的;

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[ALSO: More Jobs Will Draw More Millennials to Homebuying]

Obama also admitted that the midterm election will be a referendum （公民投票权）on his economic and other policies. "I am not on the ballot this fall," he said. "....But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them." This seemed to play into the hands of Republican Senate candidates who are trying to link their Democratic rivals to the unpopular president in key states such as Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina. At the same time, Obama's pitch could motivate Democratic voters who support his policies to show up on Election Day and cast their ballots.

make no mistake：口语-毫无疑问

ballot n. 投票；

 

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Democratic pollster Geoff Garin told me that Americans realize the economy has improved overall but many haven't seen that improvement in their own lives and are still anxious about the future.

Bill Galston, a political scientist with the Brookings Institution and a former White House adviser to President Bill Clinton, says the economy is uppermost in voters' minds. "That's what the election's about and that's what every election is going to be about until someone figures out something to do about it," Galston told me.

Galston says for the middle class and the failure of the economy to generate enough good-paying jobs have hurt Obama's standing with many of his core constituencies. Among them are young people, such as college students who will graduate soon and who realize the job market is poor, Galston notes. If the Democrats don't get a strong turnout among Democrat-leaning young voters, their prospects for keeping their majority in the Senate or making gains in the Republican-controlled House will be bleak. And as of now, the youth turnout is expected to be relatively low.

wage stagnation  工资停滞

core constituencies.核心选区

bleakness N-UNCOUNT 黯淡

例：

The continued bleakness of the American job market was blamed.