VOCABLE Du 18 au 31 octobre 2018 (^) • 7
Will you vote 4 me?
For this year’s midterm
elections, personalized text
messages sent to voters’
phones are the campaign
tools that candidates use the
most. Candidates even
favour these over TV ads,
door-to-door campaigning and social media
platforms. “There’s no question that texting is
the breakout tech of 2018,” said Eric Wilson, a
Republican digital strategist, to the N e w Yo r k
Times. “There’s so much competition in the
inbox, we’re looking for other channels. For
now, that’s text messaging.”
text message message sent by mobile phone /
tool mechanism, here, method / to favour to
prefer / ad = advertisement, publicity / breakout
latest, new / tech = technology / inbox email
reception box / channel means of access, way.
W
hen Chance the Rapper appeared
last November on Saturday
Night Live and sang a tune titled “Come Back,
Barack,” he spoke for all the bereft Democrats
who believed that only Barack Obama had the
requisite credentials and charisma to lead the
ight against Trumpism. Now nearly a year
later, their wish has come true. He has inter-
rupted his excellent retirement to stump in the
midterms for a Democratic Congress, to stoke
anti–Donald Trump turnout with withering
critiques of the manifestly
unpopular president. - The irony is that Obama
will be devoting much of this
autumn to one of his least
favorite pursuits: campaign-
ing for down-ballot candi-
dates. The irony of Obama
wading into the 2018 congres-
sional midterms is that, as
president, he disdained the
kind of grassroots party build-
ing and partisan engagement that might’ve
blunted the massacres Democrats suffered in
the 2010 and 2014 midterms. At the dawn of the
Obama era, the majority Democrats held 257
House seats; during his inal two years, the
minority Democrats held 188 seats. When he
was irst sworn into ofice, Democrats enjoyed
a near-ilibuster-proof Senate majority; when
his time ran out, their Senate seats had dwindled
to 44. - Democratic strategists are pleased that
Obama is currently teaming up with h i s e x–
attorney general Eric Holder to target state
legislative races, trying to recoup what has been
lost, but there’s also a wide-
spread feeling that the ex-
president’s efforts are a tad
late.
PAINFUL PA S T
- Obama has acknowledged
that he allowed the party to
wither; shortly before Trump
was inaugurated, he told ABC
News: “I take some responsi-
bility on that. I couldn’t be
both chief organizer of the
Democratic Party and function as commander
in chief of the United States.” - Democrats are determined to look for ward—
indeed, the prospects for a blue wave are bull-
ish, especially with Obama campaigning
against Republicans in the 23 House districts
where Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presiden-
tial vote—but the recent past is too painful to
ignore. Steve Rosenthal, a veteran Demo-
cratic organizer and a former political director
of the A FL-CIO, tells me: “We’ll be digging out
of it for some time to come. Too frequently,
President Obama tried to stay above the fray,
and that didn’t help.” - Granted, he says, most presidents don’t spend
much energy building the party that helped
elect them: “Maybe with the exception of
George W. Bush during his irst term [the 2002
midterms that followed 9/11], I don’t think
there’s been a president in either party in recent
memory [who] invested properly. They have
generally viewed the parties as wholly owned
subsidiaries of their personal brand for reelec-
tion purposes.” - Chance the Rapper pseudonym for Chancelor Bennet,
American rap artist (born 1993) / Saturday Night Live
weekly American entertainment program / tune song /
bereft (ig.) bereaved, grieving / requisite necessary,
suitable / credentials qualiications, proile / to come,
came, come true to happen, be realised / retirement
period of one’s life when one has inished working / to
stump to campaign / midterms = midterm elections / to
stoke to feed a ire, here, to provide fuel for / turnout
participation in an election / withering full of contempt,
scorn. - to devote to dedicate / pursuit activity, occupation /
down-ballot candidate term for a local candidate who is
supported by a well known igure of the same party in an
election (down-ballot name of candidate appears near
the bottom of the voting list) / to wade into to become
involved in / to disdain to resist / grassroots here, local /
to blunt to lessen, reduce / dawn daybreak, here
beginning / era epoch, here, presidency /
House = House of Representatives / to be sworn into
oice to take the oath of oice / near-ilibuster-proof
with almost enough votes to prevent any resistance in a
vote / to run, ran, run out to come to an end / to
dwindle to diminish.- currently at present, at the moment / to team up
with to collaborate with / attorney general head of the
US Department of Justice / race election / to recoup to
recuperate, recover, get back / widespread general / a
tad slightly, a little, a bit. - painful here, emotionally diicult / to acknowledge
to admit / to wither to fade, die of, decline / to
inaugurate to swear onto oice. - to look forward to focus on the future / prospect
chances of future success / blue wave (ig.) Democratic
win / bullish optimistic /
House district electoral districts designated for elections
to the House of Representatives / veteran very
experienced / AFL- CIO = American Federation of Labour
and Congress of Industrial Organisations (federation of
independent American unions) / We’ll be digging out of
it for some time to come we will be working for a long
time to to repair the damage done... / to stay above the
fray to take a position above the battle.- granted it’s true / term period in oice / properly
really, truly / to view here, to consider / wholly owned
100% controlled / subsidiary company controlled by
another / brand image, trademark / for... purposes to
provide for their own.... - to grumble (about) to complain / fate destiny, lot /
Téléchargez l’appli Vocable oferte à nos abonnés! http://www.vocable.fr/applimobileBarack Obama has returned to politics. Just a few weeks away from the midterm
elections, the former president has rolled up his sleeves and started campaigning for
the Democratic Party. He gave a notable speech at the University of Illinois on 7
September, calling for Americans to vote against the present ‘political darkness’.
Will Obama’s popularity give the Democrats a decisive edge in these elections?The prospects
for a blue
wave are
bullish.
The Battle for the House
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for
election. For Democrats to take control of the House, they
have to claim at least 23 seats from the Republicans.According to the latest polls, 42 seats held by
Republicans and 3 seats held by Democrats could go
either way. (Source: BBC News/Cook Political Report)