听力文本

Well, I don't know if any one see the Bill Maher movie Religulous?
不知道有没人看过比尔马赫的电影，宗教的荒谬
Youssef interview with a Democratic senator from Arkansas is that Mark Pryor I believe
其中有一段对一位阿肯色参议员的采访，我想受访者的原形是马克泊尤
In religious terms, very conservative but yet in other areas much more centrist or even liberal. On some of these economic issues
他在宗教方面的思想是很保守的，但他在其他方面看法则较为中立，甚至开放，例如在经济问题上则是如此
And places like Montana big hot butter issue would be guns
在蒙大拿这种地方枪支持有是否合法是热点问题
Blue Dog Democrats from western states tend tobe quite pro-gun. Not surprising
来自西部地区的蓝狗成员均比较支持枪支持有。这是意料之中的
Since the people are not going to win primaries at the national level
即使这些人无法赢得国内大多数群众的支持
But at the state level they can certainly do well
但在他们本州绝对会受到拥戴
In contrasting to the Blue Dog Democrats, the Main Street Republicans
与蓝狗民主党派相对的是共和党主流社团
Another informal organization and this is in the senate
这也是一个非正式组织，这是他们在参议院中的成员
So you can see Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine. Maine is a state that's relatively heavily for the Democrats at the presidential level
科林斯和斯诺都来自缅因州。缅因州在总统大选中是较为倾向民主党的
Two women senators both moderate Republicans. Main Street Republicans
这两位女性参议员都是较温和的共和党人，是共和党主流社团成员
These are the people that the more conservative Republicans referred to as rhinos, You know that Republican in name only
该组织成员均为比犀牛还要保守的共和党人，其实他们只是名义上的共和党人
And so they have a lot of trouble with their own party
因此他们和党内同仁也有不少纷争

I wonder what John McCain standing is going to be with this group after
我在想麦凯恩以后是否要忍受和这群人为伍的日子
Well, depends on of course who wins the election
不过这是建立在他赢得大选的前提下
But he has diverged quite strongly from the Main Street Republican platform
麦凯恩的一些思想与主流社团的纲领分歧甚多
If you will, or ideology over the last few weeks
尤其是其在过去几周的表现
But you can see Minnesota 's gonna be,there's a tie raised here in Minnesota Al Franken, comedian against Norm Coleman
在明尼苏达州，一场你死我活的席位争夺战正在喜剧作家弗兰肯和科尔曼间展开
But generally we have more northern areas, with Arizona being a bit of an exception
总体而言，这些成员大多来自北部，除了来自亚利桑那州的那位例外
So anyway, I think there's enough for now on this issue of state elections
好，关于州的选情就先讲到这
But let me just pass and see if anyone has any questions or comments?
我想看看你们还有什么问题或看法
Any one want to explore?
还有人想探讨这个问题吗?

视频及简介

本课程结合大量地图，探索了美国总统大选（包括过去和现在）中的地理学，并且对仅仅简单把美国分为红州（共和党）和蓝州（民主党）这一说法提出挑战。现实中，美国社会两党的情况，远比这种简单的两分法要复杂。