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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm PhoebeZimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. This week -- a progress report on the racefor the presidency.
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VOICE ONE:
Many Americans can remember when presidential campaigns lastedtwo or three months. The campaign this year will be one of thelongest in American history.
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts already has gained enoughdelegates to secure the nomination of the Democratic Party.Elections at the state level decide how many delegates will supporta candidate at the party nominating convention. A candidate neededtwo-thousand-one-hundred-sixty-two delegates to secure thenomination.
Democrats began to vote in January for a candidate to competeagainst President George W. Bush. The biggest day of voting was onMarch second. It was called Super Tuesday. Citizens voted in tenstates. Senator Kerry won nine of them. Senator John Edwards ofNorth Carolina won the tenth. But he left the race after that.
VOICE TWO:
So Democrats have chosen their candidate early. This did nothappen by chance. Some states held their nominating electionsearlier than before. Not everyone thinks this was such a good idea.They say voters may lose interest in the campaign. Election Day isnot until November second.
Democrats will meet in Boston, Massachusetts, in July to nominateJohn Kerry. Republicans will hold their nominating convention in NewYork City in August. President Bush ran unopposed for delegates. TheConstitution permits presidents to serve two four-year terms.
Early March was important for President Bush as well as forSenator Kerry. The Bush re-election campaign began televisionmessages in seventeen states. And the president made some campaigntrips to seek votes and raise money.
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VOICE ONE:
John Kerry has served almost twenty years as a United Statessenator from Massachusetts. As a young man, he fought in the VietnamWar. He was honored for bravery. When he came home, however, heprotested that war. Yet a lot of people thought the Democraticnominee this year would not be John Kerry, but Howard Dean. As ofOctober there were ten candidates. They took part in debates andcampaigned around the country.
Howard Dean, a medical doctor, was popular as governor of thesmall northeastern state of Vermont. He resigned in two-thousand-twoto begin his campaign to become America's forty-fourth president.
VOICE TWO:
Some Democrats liked Doctor Dean because he opposed the war inIraq. They liked the energetic way he expressed anger at the Bushadministration. His supporters noted that other major Democraticcandidates had voted in Congress for the United States to invadeIraq. Senator Kerry supported the American-led action when Congressconsidered it. He says he voted for war because the administrationhad warned that weapons of mass destruction threatened America. Hecriticizes the war, now that searchers have not found any suchweapons.
VOICE ONE:
Political observers also praised Howard Dean for the way heraised money for his campaign. He received millions of dollars insmall gifts through the Internet. Some experts thought he had a goodchance to defeat the president. But people in the state of Iowathought differently. The Iowa caucuses took place on Januarynineteenth. Local citizens held meetings to choose delegates whowould support the candidates. John Kerry received thirty-eightpercent of the delegates. John Edwards finished second. And HowardDean finished third, with eighteen percent.
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VOICE TWO:
What happened? Commentators saidmany people in Iowa thought Howard Dean sounded too angry. They alsothought some of his television messages were too critical of hisopponents. And then there was the "Dean Scream." The night he lostthe Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean made a short statement to hissupporters. Many were young people who had worked hard for him.Clearly he wanted to say something to give them energy to campaignin the other states. Howard Dean shouted over the noise. He wavedhis arms around and ended his speech with a yell.
Television showed this moment hundreds of times in the days tofollow. The Dean campaign protested that this was unfair. But themedia were not alone. Many Americans said Howard Dean did not appearpresidential.
VOICE ONE:
The next nominating election was the primary in New Hampshire.Again, John Kerry won. He received thirty-eight percent of the vote.But this time Howard Dean finished second, with twenty-six percent.Wesley Clark was third, with John Edwards close behind. Mister Clarkis a retired Army general and former NATO commander.
Then came voting in seven states on February third. SenatorEdwards won South Carolina, which is next to his home state. GeneralClark won Oklahoma. That proved to be the only state he won. SenatorKerry won the other five states.
VOICE TWO:
Some campaigns did not last long. Former Senator Carol MoseleyBraun of Illinois withdrew just before the Iowa caucuses in January.Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri quit afterward. SenatorJoseph Lieberman of Connecticut stayed in the race until earlyFebruary. So did Wesley Clark.
On February eighteenth, Howard Dean also left the race. Hiscampaign collected a lot of money. But campaign officials say theydid not spend it well. As a result, there was not much left to spendthis year. John Edwards left the campaign after he won only SouthCarolina on March second.
Senator Bob Graham of Florida was also in the race for a time.And there were two other candidates: the Reverend Al Sharpton of NewYork and Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
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VOICE ONE:
Senator Kerry must still choose someone for vice president. Manypeople would like him to choose John Edwards of North Carolina. Theysay he is the best speaker of all the candidates. He was a triallawyer before he ran for the Senate. He is in his first term as asenator.
Some people say John Edwards would bring balance to the Democratsin the election. Senator Kerry is from a rich family in New England,in the northeastern part of the United States. Senator Edwards,though now wealthy, is from a family in the South that did not havemuch money. Many people call John Kerry a liberal. John Edwards isknown more as a moderate.
VOICE TWO:
President Bush says he wants DickCheney to remain his vice president. Public opinion research showsthat the vice president has lost popularity in recent months.
One issue involves the company that Mister Cheney once led,Halliburton. Halliburton provides services for oil fields. Currentlyit is also serving food to American troops and doing other workrelated to the Iraq war.
There has been criticism about overcharging and a lack ofcompetition for projects. Halliburton defends its pricing and theway it has received work. Still, some people say the company inTexas has too much influence in Washington.
VOICE ONE:
There are different issues in this election year. Iraq.Terrorism. Taxes. Education. Health care. But the economy plays abig part. The economy is better since the last recession. But therecovery has not created many new jobs yet. Another issue is theloss of information technology jobs to India and other countries.
John Kerry leads President Bush in some public opinion studies.The president is just beginning his own campaign. Estimates of theamount of money that his supporters have already given are as highas two-hundred-million dollars. That is a lot more than the Kerrycampaign has received.
VOICE TWO:
The two candidates have already begun to attack each otherthrough paid announcements on television and radio. At some pointPresident Bush and Senator Kerry will probably debate each other.And there will be lots of travel. Some states are considered easyfor one or the other candidate to win. But other states could goeither way. These are called battleground states.
One thing is sure. Americans have eight months until Election Dayto hear all about it.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was CatyWeaver. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA,in Special English on the Voice of America.