AMERICANS have always drawn inspiration from the personal stories of their leaders.
    Even today, for instance, schoolchildren are taught about the cherry tree that George Washington, US’s first president, chopped down as a child. 　　
    When his father stormed into the house after discovering the fallen tree, “honest George” is said to have cried: “I cannot tell a lie, father. I did cut it with my little hatchet.”
    Such stories are meant to highlight important character traits. In this year’s presidential elections, they are also being used to attract voters.
    Each major presidential and vice-presidential candidate in the ongoing campaigns has a compelling personal story and each seems to be dying to tell it.
    There is, of course, the story of the Democratic Party Senator Barack Obama, the first black man to appear on a major party ticket in a US presidential election. There is the story of his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, who nearly dropped out of politics when his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident.
    On the Republican side, there is the story of Senator John McCain, who clung to life for more than five years in a Hanoi prison camp during the Vietnam War. And there is his running mate, the Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a mother of five children, including a baby with Downs Syndrome.
    Playing up these stories allows the candidates to highlight their own qualities and, at the same time, appeal to certain blocks of voters.
    For instance, Biden touts his roots in a blue-collar family to appeal to voters who work in factories and mines. McCain’s courageous story connects with families of military men and women.
    Obama’s experiences as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago show his awareness of issues plaguing America’s poor urban families. And Palin’s decision to give birth to a mentally disabled baby endears her to American voters who oppose abortion.
    Rick Davis, the campaign manager of the McCain campaign, recently admitted to The Washington Post that the personal narratives of the candidates have taken center stage.
    “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates,” he said.
    Still, there is a danger in all of this storytelling. Eventually, the drama dies. Even worse, voters can begin to think the candidates are talking too much about themselves and not enough about, for instance, rising gas prices and the struggling economy.
    Perhaps that’s why, in his recent keynote speech at the Democratic Party Convention, Obama said, “I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office… I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington. [But] this electionhas never been about me. It’s about you. It’s about you.”
    生詞：
    Arch of Triumph 凱旋門
    Arirang 阿里郎
    cherry櫻桃
    cling堅持
    composite混合的
    Downs Syndrome 唐氏綜合癥，患者也被稱為先天愚型兒
    endear使受喜愛
    footage連續(xù)鏡頭
    narrative敘述故事
    hatchet 短柄小斧
    interval 時間間隔
    mosaic 拼板組合成圖
    obsessively 著迷一般地
    package tour 跟團旅游
    Panmunjom 板門店，朝鮮地名
    pedigree血統(tǒng)，家譜
    plague使苦惱
    podium領(lǐng)獎臺
    tout吹噓，引起公眾的注意
    trait特點，特性
    wreckage殘骸，廢墟
    BONUS
    Expressions
    be dying to
    迫不及待想做某事
    John has never seen his cousin Sarah before. He’s just dying to meet her.
    約翰從沒見過他的表妹薩拉，他迫切地想見見她。
    play up
    大肆渲染，夸大重要性
    She played up her internship experience during the job interview.
    在工作面試時她著重強調(diào)了自己的實習(xí)經(jīng)驗。
    storm into
    (憤怒地)沖進。動詞storm與介詞into/out of連用，表示憤怒地、飛快地沖進/沖出
    He stormed out of the house, slamming the door as he went.
    他沖出屋子，摔門而去。