中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Americans Elect is endorsing an entirely new political process. |
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The new political group “Americans Elect” has quietly been collecting signatures needed for to get on statewide ballots in the 2012 general elections. But the group doesn’t plan to run a candidate, and it doesn’t have a platform or an ideology. “This isn’t a third party,” Elliot Ackerman, the group’s chief operating officer said. “It’s a second process.” Americans Elect is endorsing an entirely new political process, and here’s how the whole thing goes: All registered voters are invited to participate in a two-week online convention in June 2012. Voters will fill out questionnaires and will be able to see a list of candidates who share their policy positions. All online, a party platform will be drafted, and the field of candidates will be narrowed down to six. Each of those six will choose a running mate — from a different party. Finally, voters registered at AmericansElect.org will choose one of the tickets, and those candidates will take over the ballot line secured with signatures by the group. Sound complicated? It seems that way. But Americans Elect believes Americans will support it. Recent polls find US voters are disenchanted with both Democrats and Republicans. A large majority of independents, 68 percent, support the creation of a third party. The group has strong financial backing. So far, about 50 donors have loaned $20 million to the cause, and they’ll be repaid if the group raises enough money in smaller contributions. Americans Elect plans to accept donations of up to $10,000, and to refuse money from political action committees and interest groups. Its members come from different political parties and backgrounds, including a former communications director for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democratic pollster, CEOs and college professors — all with the common goal of attracting disenchanted centrists to challenge the Washington status quo. Americans Elect has collected enough signatures to get a ballot line in eight states, including Michigan and Missouri. It plans to submit an astounding 1.6 million signatures in California. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
新生政治團體“美國人的選擇”已經悄然開始行動，為2012年美國大選的全國投票征集選民簽名。不過他們卻并不打算推出自己的候選人，也沒有自己的政治綱領或者政治思想。 該政團的首席運營官艾略特?奧科曼說，“我們不是第三黨，而是另一種運作方式。” “美國人的選擇”支持的是一種全新的政治程序，其運行過程是：在2012年6月召開為期兩周的網絡大會，邀請所有登記注冊的選民參與討論。選民們填寫調查問卷之后，就可以看到一張和他們持有相同政見的候選人名單。 一切都是通過網絡進行的：網上起草政黨綱領，將候選人的范圍壓縮在六個以內，然后六個候選人各自挑選一個來自不同政黨的人作為競選伙伴。 最后，所有在此網站注冊的選民進行投票，而團體募集的簽名將保證候選人達到選票線，獲得候選資格。 聽起來很復雜？好像是那么回事。不過，“美國人的選擇”相信美國人會支持他們。最近的民意調查發現，美國選民對共和黨和民主黨都大失所望。大多數獨立黨人（68％）都支持建立一個第三政黨。 “美國人的選擇”擁有雄厚的資金支持。迄今為止，他們已經得到了約50位捐贈人提供的2000萬美元的貸款，并將在募集到足夠的小額捐款之后償還這些貸款。他們計劃接受10000美元以下的捐款，但是不會接受任何政治活動委員會或者利益團體的捐款。 “美國人的選擇”成員來自不同的政黨，擁有不同的政治背景，其中包括馬薩諸塞州州長德瓦爾?帕特里克的前任通訊主管，一位民主黨民意調查員，一些公司總裁以及大學教授等等。他們都有一個共同的目標，就是將那些對兩黨倍感失望的中間派成員吸引在一起，對美國的現狀進行革新。 在包括密歇根州和密蘇里州在內的八個州，“美國人的選擇”已經收集了足夠多的選民簽名，獲得了候選資格。他們打算向加利福尼亞州遞交這數量驚人的160萬簽名。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 實習生高美 編輯：陳丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: platform: the aims of a political party and the things that they say they will do if they are elected to power （政黨的）綱領，政綱，宣言 endorse: to say publicly that you support a person, statement or course of action （公開）贊同，支持，認可 disenchanted: no longer feeling enthusiasm for somebody/something; not believing something is good or worth doing（不再著迷的；不再抱幻想的） |
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