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  3. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire on Friday, back at the farm where he launched his presidentia

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire on Friday, back at the farm where he launched his presidentia

admin2011-02-03  156
问题     Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire on Friday, back at the farm where he launched his presidential campaign one year ago.
    "In the days ahead, we’ll be traveling on what are often called the backroads of America," he said. "But I think our tour is going to take us along what I’ll call the backbone of America."
    It was the first stop on a five-day bus tour that will take him to small towns. The former Massachusetts governor’s campaign is calling it the "Every Town Counts" tour.
    Even though rural communities appear solidly Republican these days, both presidential candidates are trying to win over voters there.
    Rural Appeal
    Romney and President Obama are both, let’s be honest, city slickers. "That’s a big change for the American presidency", says Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies.
    "If it’s [Ronald] Reagan on a horse or [Bill] Clinton, the man from Hope [Ark.], there’s always been this kind of visual narrative or this story that to be president you had to be able to handle the wilderness, be comfortable outside of the city. It’s just part of the lore," he says.
    You’re not likely to see Romney or Obama in a cowboy hat very often. But both men are trying to appeal to the folks who live in small towns, traditionally Republican strongholds.
    "It’s been an extraordinary priority and the proof of that is the fact that the president established the Rural Council," says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
    The Rural Council, which Vilsack runs, is a group of Cabinet members who meet to talk about policies aimed specifically at rural America. This week the council put out a report documenting improvements in the agricultural economy.
    "In that report is the plan, if you will, for revitalizing the rural economy. We haven’t had a plan in the past. We now do," Vilsack explains.
    Competing Plans
    The administration’s plan talks about increasing exports, producing biofuels and giving low-interest loans to small businesses in rural America. Exports are already way up over the past few years. Farmers are seeing record profits.
    Vilsack says that’s a sign of Obama administration success at helping rural America.
    Jim Talent, a former senator from Missouri who now advises the Romney campaign, disagrees. "Exports are up. That’s in part because of the weak dollar—and I guess the administration can claim some credit for that. I mean, the dollar’s weak because the economy’s weak," Talent says.
    Over these five days, Romney will visit six swing states that went for Obama four years ago.
    But he’ll focus on the small towns in those states that went Republican last time, in hopes of tipping the whole state into the red column this time. Talent says during this bus tour Romney will lay out his ideas to help rural America—more oil and natural gas drilling, lower taxes and deficit reduction.
    Getting Redder
    During the primary season, Romney consistently underperformed in small towns. Republican rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich often beat him in those areas. So Romney has some work to do in rural America.
    So does the president.
    According to Davis at the Center for Rural Strategies, in 2008, Obama lost rural counties by a smaller margin than past Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry or Al Gore did.
    "Obama tightened the race," says Davis. "He lost rural by about 7 percent in the swing states. If he could do that again this time, he would win in a walk. But at this point, rural looks pretty tough."
                                                        From NPR, June 15,2012
Why is this priority group difficult to reach for the two presidential candidates?
选项 A、The candidates do not have enough finances.
B、They are both city slickers.
C、Religious group affiliations affect voters’ preferences.
D、Certain regions have strict political party allegiance.
答案B
解析 本题为细节题。第五段中说到两位候选人都是city slicker，和以往大不相同，这也意味着选举难度增加。因此答案B正确。
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