[ti:Learn about US Presidential Campaigns]
[al:Education Report]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-07-26]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Every four years, the United States holds an election for the president in November. 
[00:07.30]This lesson aims to help teachers and learners understand the political processes and expressions used during the election campaign.
[00:18.39]Let us begin with the expression, political party.
[00:22.48]In elections, parties organize candidates who share party members' ideas about how government should operate. 
[00:30.95]They try to win elections to gain and keep political power.
[00:36.16]There are two major political parties in the U.S. 
[00:40.21]They are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. 
[00:44.30]There are other small political parties at the national level. 
[00:48.90]These include the Libertarian and Green parties.
[00:53.06]Each of the U.S. states and territories holds votes early in the election year. 
[01:02.71]In many states and territories, these votes are called primaries. 
[01:10.43]You may know the word "primary" as an adjective meaning "happening or coming first" as in "primary school."
[01:21.90]When speaking of elections, it is a noun, but it has a similar meaning - it is the first election in a voting process that takes place over one year.
[01:37.13]You might also hear the term caucus.
[01:42.19]A caucus is also a kind of election, but it is held privately by the party and usually does not involve state election officials or equipment. 
[01:56.96]The Iowa caucus was for a long time the first presidential contest during an election year.
[02:06.63]In a primary or a caucus, voters choose the party's candidates for local and state offices as well as for national offices. 
[02:20.53]The candidates who get the most votes become the candidates for the election in the fall.
[02:28.84]Primaries can be "open" or "closed." 
[02:32.50]Anyone can take part in an open primary election - even members of another party. 
[02:41.17]Only registered party members can vote in a closed primary.
[02:48.37]In some states, voters choose delegates in the primaries. State party organizations have different rules for choosing them. 
[03:00.09]Delegates are people who will attend their party's convention, or general meeting.
[03:06.75]When a delegate is elected to choose a particular candidate, we say the delegate is pledged to the candidate.
[03:14.78]To pledge is to promise something.
[03:19.58]Each party holds a national convention - a large meeting where the delegates officially nominate the candidate that the party supports for the presidential election.
[03:34.45]The verb "nominate" means to officially choose someone as a candidate for a position. You will hear some other forms of the word in election news.
[03:49.34]To describe the process of having the delegates choose a candidate, we use the noun form, "nomination."
[03:58.80]At the convention, the candidate who gains the majority of delegates is called the "nominee."
[04:05.96]The nominee gives a speech to accept the nomination.
[04:10.67]The party platform is a statement of the ideology of the party and its candidate.
[04:20.40]At the party convention, the organizing committee shares its platform.
[04:27.87]The platform is a statement of the policies that the party hopes to put in place during its candidate's term in office.
[04:39.40]Presidential candidates travel the country speaking to voters at a series of events called rallies.
[04:48.28]Reporters use the expression "campaign trail" to describe these events.
[04:53.93]This is a metaphor for progressing along a path toward a goal. 
[04:59.03]The election campaign is sometimes called a "race," another metaphor comparing the election campaign to a sporting competition.
[05:09.58]Part of the campaign process is for the candidates to debate each other.
[05:16.60]These are televised events where a reporter asks questions that interest the public and gives each candidate a limited time to answer them. 
[05:29.14]The form of the political debates is not the same as traditional academic debates, where teams compete under clear rules and time limits.
[05:44.35]Presidential candidates and others who run for public office must find money to pay for those rallies, television advertising, and campaign workers.
[05:55.73]A common way to pay for a campaign is to ask for money.
[06:00.01]People who give to a candidate are donors.
[06:03.56]The Federal Election Commission makes rules about how much, when, and how donations can be made.
[06:12.32]Researchers get the opinions of voters in an effort to guess, or predict, the results of an upcoming election.
[06:24.00]They do this with polls, or public opinion studies.
[06:30.22]This word has two meanings in the elections. 
[06:35.94]One is where a researcher might ask you about your party affiliation and which candidate you plan to support in a telephone call.
[06:47.55]Your party affiliation is the party you are registered with or that you support.
[06:55.93]The other meaning of "poll" is the place where you go to vote on election day.
[07:04.27]We can also use "polling place." 
[07:08.91]Schools, religious centers and public buildings can be polling places. 
[07:16.26]In them, voters cast their ballot secretly. 
[07:22.04]That means they fill out their ballot without pressure from others in the room and turn in their ballot to be counted by poll workers.
[07:34.34]In the last two election years of 2020 and 2022, people could send in their ballots by mail. 
[07:44.76]But polling places remain important for processing and counting ballots.
[07:52.40]Now that you have some of the expressions used to talk about the presidential campaign, you should use them with some care. 
[08:02.34]It is not normal to ask someone what party he or she is a member of although many people will offer that information freely.
[08:12.29]In some situations, such as among close friends, you will hear Americans talk about the candidates and voice their opinions openly. 
[08:22.58]But when talking with a new acquaintance or a stranger, it is best to avoid asking about political affiliation.
[08:31.59]Also, know that some workplaces have rules against political activity, and, in government, most political activity is not legal although people often share their opinions.
[08:44.96]I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.