economist阅读写作分析--Young man in a hurry--.23 yuyu7yaya

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最近日子过的比较艰苦啊！时间不够用，不能保证一天一篇，但我会努力挤时间出来的。

California politics

Young man in a hurry

Mar 19th 2009 | SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

Gavin Newsom wants to run California. Seriously

FOR the past few years Gavin Newsom has been a stimulus package（一揽子刺激计划） for the conservative movement. His decision to allow gay marriages in San Francisco’s city hall in 2004 was credited with（把……归功于） provoking a big Republican turnout in that year’s presidential race. Last year he unwittingly became the star of TV advertisements in favour of（支持）banning gay marriage in California. But not content with running a city loathed by conservatives, Mr Newsom now wishes to take charge of an entire state.

APDestined for great things?

The young, handsome mayor (he is 41) has begun to raise money（筹钱） and hold town-hall meetings（市政厅会议） in preparation for a run at（准备接管） the office that Arnold Schwarzenegger will vacate at the end of next year. Mr Newsom joins a race that is thick with （充满着）Bay Area politicians. Jerry Brown, the state attorney-general （检察长）and former governor, grew up in San Francisco. So did Dianne Feinstein, the state’s senior senator（参议员）, who has hinted（暗示） that she may enter the race. Both leading Republican candidates have stronger ties to Silicon Valley than to anywhere else in California. Only one likelycontender（竞争者）, Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, is from southern California, where most of the state’s people live. Mr Newsom is not the loony（疯狂的） liberal of conservative tirades（长篇的攻击型演说）. By Bay Area standards he is a moderate Democrat; in San Francisco he is sometimes accused of conservatism. He is the son of a judge and part of the city’s Irish Catholic establishment. A former restaurateur, he claims to be pro-business, so long as that business is environmentally sound. Mr Newsom points out that San Francisco has one of the lowest unemployment rates in California.

With a population of about 750,000, San Francisco is no more than medium-sized (Phoenix, Arizona, is twice as big). That, together with the city’s wealth, makes it a good place to experiment. Mr Newsom has tried to turn it into a Petri dish（培养皿，试验田）for new-media and biotech companies. He has tidied up（弄整齐） the city somewhat and cut the number of rough sleepers（露宿者）. The city boasts a high recycling rate and strict green building standards.

Most important, for Mr Newsom’sgubernatorial（governor的） ambitions at least, he has expanded （扩张）health care. Some 35,000 previously uninsured（未保过险的） workers are now eligible for（有资格的） treatment by local clinics, paid for in part by a tax on businesses. With typical self-assurance, Mr Newsom claims that his model could be rolled out more widely if Barack Obama’s health plan falters（迟疑）. Some of his schemes are outlined in a series of talks, available on YouTube, which run for more than seven hours and have earned him comparisons to Fidel Castro.

None of which throws Mr Newsom off （抛弃）his stride（大步，一跨步）. He does not exactly deny the charge that his city is out of kilter（良好的状态，顺利） with mainstream America. He just sees it as a pioneer, not an outlier. As he points out, the city handed out condoms long before the practice was mainstream. “Whether you support us or oppose us, we’re always at the leading edge,” he says.

The question that will determine Mr Newsom’s chances next year is whether voters will punish him for being at the leading edge of the gay-marriage issue. Asked about this, Mr Newsom says he doesn’t care. In fact, it may help him. To reach the governor’s office he must survive the Democratic primary, where liberals dominate. And at least he has taken a bold（醒目的）, consistent stance（位置） on the issue. By contrast, Mrs Feinstein and (particularly) Mr Brown have twisted in the cultural winds（文化风潮）. The gesture that made Mr Newsom so hated may yet make his career. And after California, who knows?