VOA常速英语听力2012年08月合辑（文本）：POLITICAL-CONVENTIONS-AIM-TO-ENERGIZE-PARTY-FAITHFUL.doc

1、Every four years in the United States, national political party conventions are held to officially introduce the presidential nominees to Americans. Early conventions were often governed by backroom negotiations to choose the nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties. But now they are mainl

2、y ceremonial. And some question the need to hold them any more.Just like a whistle that starts a soccer match, the conventions signal its time for the real game to begin. This high energy has to carry the U.S. presidential campaign through its final 10 weeks.In the past, political conventions were p

3、unctuated by intrigue and infighting.And even violence. Anti war protesters dominated the story outside the 1968 Democratic party convention.But now, party conventions are just big parties. Everyone knows the nominees.Thats because state primary elections, like the games leading up to soccers World

4、Cup, already decided who would make to it to the final match. This year, the Democrat, President Barack Obama, will face Republican challenger Mitt Romney. There are few, if any spontaneous moments.John Hudak, with the Brookings Institution, said, “Everyone looks very similar in the terms of the typ

5、es of policies that they are advocating for.”Team unity comes with a steep price. Each political party receives $18 million from Americans who chose to donate three dollars from their federal tax return. The conventions are expected to cost each party more than double that - $40 million. Some say it

6、s money that should be spent differently.Richard Savage, a political consultant, said, “People who are in the middle or independents, they may see it as a waste of money, but a lot of people who make the phone calls, do the door-to-door, the convention is kind of their reward.”Conventions sometimes

7、introduce rising political rookies. Barack Obama first gained national attention as the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic convention.“If you are living abroad and you dont follow American politics too closely, this lets you see whos on the back bench, said Hudak.But, the free kick at convention

8、s is the TV coverage. American TV networks broadcast from each convention and offer play-by-play analysis of the candidates - invaluable, says Norman Ornstein from the American Enterprise Institute. “Free coverage. You dont have to pay for commercials when networks are covering hours of the message you want to convey, he said.And just like in soccer, whoever scores the most wins. For candidates, the goal is to live in the White House. But we wont know who that will be until November 6, election day.