Carter year saws stagflation and the problem such as the Iranians taking hostages in the American Embassy in Tehran
卡特执政期间经济出现滞涨,还出现诸如美国驻德黑兰大使馆遭伊朗人袭击劫持等事件
Many people saw Carter as a fairly ineffectual leader and in that election the Democrats are reduced to Carter's home state in Georgia
很多群众认为卡特政府不作为导致这场大选中,民主党仅赢得了卡特的家乡乔治亚州
West Virginia mining stronghold heavily unionized Maryland Rhode Island and Minnesota which had a very strong Democratic Party
西弗吉尼亚,一个高度工会化的要塞以及马里兰,罗德岛和明尼苏达,它们都极度倾向民主党
Actually Minnesota is not the Democratic Party it's what they call the farmer labor Democratic Party
确切的说,明尼苏达支持的并非民主党而是之前被称为农民劳工民主党的政党
It's a young joint party that actually goes to some extent back to the populist period
它是一个新兴的联合政党某个程度上与过去的平民党较为相似
Minnesota is a very strong Democratic establishment at that time
当时的明尼苏达是民主党强大的后盾
4 years later, with Walter Mondale from Minnesota running against Ronald Reagan
4年后,在那场来自明尼苏达的孟德尔与里根的角逐中
We go back down to one state and the District of Columbia
民主党再次仅赢得了一个州和哥伦比亚特区的支持

so the Democrats again are back where they were in 1972 without any sort of electoral foundation to build upon
民主党人再次回到1972年不堪的惨状已没有任何能够依靠的选票来源
What are they going to do
他们应如何走出困境呢
Well the next election see some gains in 1988 with Michael Dukakis from Massachusetts
在1988年的大选中情况有所回转,这次民主党人选了来自马萨诸塞州的杜卡基斯作为总统候选人
the Democrats are seeking someone who is well known as a sort of modern politician
他是公认的现代派的政治家
He made efficiency the core of his campaign
他在竞选中强调“效率”的重要性
Running against the George Bush the Senior again closer this time
在与老布什的对决中离胜利又近了
You can see the popular vote 53% to 45%, not a close election